Keys to the offseason for the San Jose Sharks
Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski of ESPN: Looking at the keys to the offseason for the San Jose Sharks.
Projected 2022-23 cap space: $13,003,333
2022 draft picks: 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 5th (BUF), 6th, 7th, 7th (ARI), 7th (MIN)
Who will the Sharks hire to be their next GM? Interim GM Joe Will may have to run the draft for them.
Through 2024-25 the Sharks have $42.6 million committed to Logan Couture, Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Tomas Hertl. Some have trade protection, so they may need to build cheaply around their core.
Alexander Barabanov is a UFA, while Jonathan Dahlen, Mario Ferraro and Kaapo Kahkonen are RFAs.
Will the San Jose Sharks be looking to move one of Erik Karlsson or Brent Burns?
Sportnet: Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts segment last night said that there have been some very preliminary trade talks involving San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson.
“It does look like that there were some preliminary, very preliminary trade talks this year involving defenceman Erik Karlsson and a couple of teams. Now, I don’t necessarily think that’s going to go anywhere, but what I do think it says is that the sharks recognize having two elite Norris trophy-winning right-shot defencemen hasn’t always meshed as well as the team would have hoped.”
The 31-year-old Karlsson has five more years left on his contract at a $11.5 million salary cap hit and a no-movement clause.
Sharks defenseman Brent Burns has three years left on his deal at an $8 million salary cap hit. Friedman added.
“The Sharks have made it clear in their GM search that they are still going to contend. But in a tight cap world, this might be a luxury they have to explore.
Burns in particular has less term on his contract than Karlsson, they’re both great players but I think if the opportunity comes to them where they get something they like, that is something everyone’s gonna have to watch with San Jose on the right side of their defence.”