Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News: San Jose Sharks forward Tomas Hertl will be an unrestricted free agent next offseason if an extension isn’t signed first. It could be his last chance to sign a big, long-term deal.
Hertl said on Friday that winning on a consistent basis is one of his biggest priorities. Is that something that can happen in San Jose?
“(Joe Thornton) was one of the guys, he could take way more money but he takes less because he wants a really good team,” Hertl said. “I like that idea. You can go somewhere else, sign the maximum, maybe even too much, but you’re losing for the next eight years. I don’t want to be in this position.”
Can the Sharks even fit in his salary? They have 14 players under contract for next season at $64.1 million. They have five players in their 30s locked up for another three seasons after this year.
“After the end of the season, when I talked with Doug, he likes my game, he wants me to stay here longer,” Hertl said. “Even my agent said he wants me to stay. So I feel like he likes me and he wants me to stay here.
“But we’ll see, end of the day for him, it’s business. He has to make the best decision for his team.”
Jon Lane of NHL.com: The San Jose Sharks have missed the playoffs the past two seasons, and if they are out of the playoff race again at the trade deadline, the Sharks could look at moving Tomas Hertl.
Sharks GM Doug Wilson on the pending free agent.
“I’ve had several conversations with his agent. And when you have conversations with agents, they are always kept in confidence. Tomas knows how we feel about him, I’ll leave it at that. I’ve talked to his agent several times. Tomas and I are going to talk in this next little while and it will be kept in confidence between the two of us. But I think everybody knows how we feel about him.”
Hertl on his contract situation.
“At the end of the day for , it’s business. He has to make the best decision for his team. We’ll see in a couple of weeks and when we talk to him during the year. Right now, I’m not really thinking about it or looking forward or calling my agent hey I want to know in a month or something. I want to just play hockey and help the team, and these things we’ll figure out.”