San Jose Sharks Outlook Heading Into Free Agency

The Sharks have some dollars to use on free agents this summer, but must focus on re-signing a couple key players first.

One of the best parts of the NHL for fans is that only a couple weeks separate the end of the Stanley Cup Final and the beginning of the free agent frenzy.

The San Jose Sharks will enter the beginning of NHL free agency on July 1 with more than $12 million of cap space to work with, the 11th-smallest number of NHL teams, but have only 16 players on their current NHL roster signed through next year, and 34 contracts in their organization, meaning they’ll need to acquire or call up a few new members to the squad.

However, before any talk goes on with players on other teams, the Sharks and GM Doug Wilson first need to reach an agreement with restricted free agent Tomas Hertl with that being their top priority.

At age 22, Hertl already has 200 regular season games under his belt and 102 points scored. He scored 46 points in the regular season, adding 11 playoff points, and excelled on the top line this season with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. Hertl may be the most important player long-term for the Sharks.

Last year, St. Louis Blues center Jori Lehtera re-signed on a three-year, $14.1M deal as a restricted free agent, and RFA Craig Smith of Nashville signed a five-year, $21.15M deal to rejoin the Preds. Additionally, UFA Brandon Saad signed a six-year, $36M contract last summer with Columbus.

Hertl would probably fit in that category somewhere, so depending on how greedy Hertl and his team are heading into contract talks, I’d figure he’ll command something along the lines of a five-year, $25 million range and end up making around $5 million per season. The organization first needs to know how the injury he suffered in the Stanley Cup Final could affect his future, though.

So subtract $5 million from that original $12 million total and the Sharks have $7 million to work with.

RFA’s Dylan DeMelo and Matt Nieto should return in teal next season, and unrestricted free agents (can sign with any team) Nick Spaling, Dainius Zubrus, Matt Tennyson and Roman Polak hope to return to the Bay Area next season as well.

DeMelo seems like a no brainer to be brought back and play on the third line of defense in 2016-17. The defenseman was as solid as you could ask for in his rookie season playing for a team in which every game mattered towards the home stretch, along with added pressure due to the month-long absence of defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

It’s hard to figure what he will ask for, but $1-1.5 million a season on a short term, one or two year deal seems like a good estimate. If he plays well next year playing full-time, he could sign a much higher and longer extension with the team.

Nieto took a step back from from 2014-15 this past year and dealt with a nagging injury in the playoffs, but provides depth and makes few mistakes, so he is one Wilson would like to bring back for around $1.5 million per year. Now, after bringing back Hertl, DeMelo and Nieto, the Sharks would have probably around $4 million to $5 million to play with.

Unless Wilson likes having the presence of more veterans, there is no reason to re-sign Zubrus or Polak after mostly subpar seasons on the ice. There’s no question a guy like Zubrus helped the bottom six forwards as Chris Tierney in their development process, but he simply didn’t produce, especially in the playoffs.

Before a hit that left him concussed for the remainder of the season, Tennyson was playing adequately for team teal. However, the organization has a couple young defensemen such as DeMelo, Mirco Mueller and Jeremy Roy who hope to be integral parts of the blue-line group in the future and have a higher ceiling than the 26-year-old defenseman – plus the top four defenders aren’t going anywhere – so his return seems very 50/50.

Next: Sharks Improve Center Depth In Draft

The Sharks figure to be much quieter this July than they were last summer when they acquired Martin Jones, Paul Martin and Joel Ward, both of whom were absolutely necessary to have for the Sharks to reach the Stanley Cup Final. With less money to work with and less holes to fill, don’t expect team teal to do much, but they will do something.

Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at what some areas of need could be and find a few free agents who Wilson could potentially target for a cheap price.