The San Jose Sharks had the worst record within the NHL last season. That earned them the second overall pick, which brought Michael Misa to town after a dominant junior profession. San Jose did make some free-agent signings, bringing in Dmitry Orlov and John Klingberg on the blue line. However the Sharks should make one other trade this offseason, helping either the Dallas Stars or Florida Panthers escape from salary cap issues.
After the Sharks picked defenseman Nick Leddy up off waivers, they reached the salary cap floor. So, by rule of the NHL, they wouldn’t have to make any more moves this offseason. Considering they’re saving space for the William Eklund extension they already signed, they actually won’t be using all $23.8 million of it. But they ought to be open for business so as to add depth pieces in trades this summer.
Each the Panthers and the Stars are over the salary cap, based on PuckPedia. Teams are allowed to go over the cap by 10% within the offseason as they make final roster adjustments. While they will not face any penalty yet, they do have to figure it out before the season begins. They each ought to be looking down their roster for trade pieces that may fix the issue.
The Panthers are $2.95 million over the cap and have two forwards making exactly $3 million. One in every of those is Evan Rodrigues, who was a key a part of each of their Stanley Cup runs. But because Eetu Luostarainen is younger and a middle, Rodrigues is prone to be moved. The Sharks could part with one in all their many draft picks to snag Rodrigues and improve their depth. Rodrigues has already been paid his signing bonus, meaning the Sharks would only owe him $775,000 this season.
The Sharks ought to be in search of depth to support Macklin Celebrini
The Stars are $1.79 million over the cap, based on PuckPedia. They wouldn’t have the plain trade candidate just like the Panthers do with Rodrigues, however the Sharks can still strike. They already added Klingberg, Orlov, and Leddy to their defense, in order that they shouldn’t go after Matt Dumba or Ilya Lyubushkin.
The forward that the Sharks should go after is Sam Steel, who makes $2.1 million for the subsequent two seasons. Steel is a bottom-six forward who has 142 points and 130 penalty minutes in 412 profession games. While he isn’t an elite goal scorer, he generally is a solid piece to enhance San Jose’s bottom six.
The Sharks did sign Adam Guadette, who made an impact for the Ottawa Senators within the playoffs last 12 months. But players like Carl Grundstrom and Barclay Goodrow may very well be replaced to make San Jose a greater team. None of those moves goes to make them Stanley Cup contenders, but they should win more games in 2025-26.
The Sharks have a vibrant future, with Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, William Eklund, Michael Misa, and more. But they will not get anywhere spinning their wheels on a 60-point team for one more season. Mike Grier must make moves in order that the Sharks get out of the basement and provides Celebrini big stages to shine on.
These aren’t super attractive trade pickups for the Sharks to finish their offseason. In the event that they can get a restricted free agent like Gabe Vilardi, Bowen Byram, or Marco Rossi, that might change the tenor of their season. However the way more likely situation is that they bail out a contender to enhance their bottom six.
The Sharks have the additional draft picks and definitely have the additional cap space to make a trade with either the Panthers or the Stars. They might even do each in the event that they were willing to make two deals this summer.