Report: San Jose Sharks Sign Defenseman Paul Martin To Four-Year Deal
Mar 29, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Paul Martin (7) moves the puck against the San Jose Sharks during the first period at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Penguins won 3-2 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The San Jose Sharks continued their busy offseason by adding a veteran player to help bolster their blue line. According to a report from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN, the Sharks agreed to a four-year deal with Paul Martin, formerly of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Done deal. Paul Martin has agreed to a four-year deal with the San Jose Sharks.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) July 1, 2015
The deal will be worth $19.4M and it will carry an average annual cap hit of $4.85M.
LeBrun mentioned that Martin was the top unrestricted free agent general manager Doug Wilson targeted and he went and got his man.
An 11-year veteran, Martin has spent his entire career with in the Eastern Conference, split between the Penguins and New Jersey Devils. Last season, Martin appeared in 74 games with Pittsburgh, averaging 22:47 of ice time and netting three goals and 17 assists while being a plus-17. He was a positive possession driver with the Penguins, registering a Corsi For percentage of 52.9 percent.
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While the term of Martin’s contract could be alarming, he should be a short term upgrade to a Sharks defense that struggled mightily last season. Martin should be able to help the San Jose penalty kill that ranked 25th last season as he’s been one of Pittsburgh’s best penalty killers over the years.
Martin is comfortable playing either the left-or-right-side, giving the Sharks some flexibility on their back end. He’s known as a stay-at-home blue liner, more along the lines of Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and could pair with Vlasic to give the Sharks a legitimate shutdown pairing.
He could also slot alongside Brent Burns, and help balance out Burns who tends to stray from his defensive responsibilities at times.
If Martin can stay healthy and continue to perform, then this deal is a great one for San Jose. While there’s expected to be a decline in the latter years of the contract, the Sharks are trying to win now and Wilson’s moves have been aggressive in signing the ones he’s honed in on.
With the Martin signing, San Jose now has less than $5M in salary cap space, but Wilson did hint the Sharks could still be involved in trade talks to net more talent.