NHL Rumors: San Jose Sharks Have Several Pieces Teams Want

Expect San Jose Sharks To Be Busy at the NHL Trade Deadline

Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period joined Steve Kouleas and Martin Biron on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio. Power Play Segment and stated the San Jose Sharks could be one of the busier teams as the deadline approaches and at the deadline itself.

** NHLRumors.com Transcription

Martin Biron: “Dave, the Buffalo Sabres played the San Jose Sharks twice in the last 10 days, so I was paying close attention to the Sharks, looking at their salary structure. You know, Tomas Hertl, he’s got long-term at over $8 million. You’ve got Logan Couture back; he’s got three more years at eight, but other than that, they don’t have a long-term commitment, and they have a lot of guys that are UFAs at the end of the year. So I see on your website and a trade watch list. You’ve got Barabanov, you’ve got Duclair, you got Hoffman, there’s three or four San Jose Sharks on that list. Are they a big team that would be a big player at the deadline?”

Dave Pagnotta: “Yeah, I think so. Marty, you can add Kevin Labanc to that list; he is available. A couple of other pieces as well as their goaltenders. San Jose, Mike Grier, their GM, they’re gonna be busy. They’re certainly gonna be busy looking at their different options.

I think, you know, one of the guys, and maybe this translates to, you know, Duclair, possibly Hoffman as well, but I believe San Jose is going to reach out in the next at some point either after the break or during the break to Barabanov’s camp just to see what they would look like in terms of trying to get him signed to an extension. They really liked the player, I think, and I get the sense that he’s probably looking at terms that might not fit for the San Jose Sharks. as they’re going through this rebuild process.

So they’re gonna have a conversation relatively soon, and that’ll pretty much determine his immediate future. I think he’s a very likely candidate to be moved. I think Duclair is as well. Hoffman, the two you’re looking at guys that provide secondary scoring. Barabanov brings a few other intangibles to the mix. And we’ll certainly draw a lot of interest.

So the Sharks, you know, and one of the reasons as well they were able to bring in or were willing to bring in guys like Duclair and Hoffman, on expiring deals and taking on the money was the intention of and likelihood of flipping them at the deadline to retain additional assets as they go through this rebuild process.

So I think San Jose will definitely be one of the busier teams out there over the next four and a half to five weeks. I’ll add Calgary to the mix. Add Anaheim to the mix in terms of some of the teams that are probably going to be the busiest in terms of selling.”