{"id":358283,"date":"2026-06-29T19:47:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T14:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=358283"},"modified":"2026-06-29T19:47:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T14:17:51","slug":"michael-kesselring-signs-13-5-million-cope-with-sj-after-sabres-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/06\/29\/michael-kesselring-signs-13-5-million-cope-with-sj-after-sabres-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Kesselring signs $13.5 million cope with SJ after Sabres trade"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The San Jose Sharks have signed<\/a> defenseman Michael Kesselring to a three-year, $13.5 million contract carrying a $4.5 million average annual value through the 2028-29 season, in response to PuckPedia. Tthe agreement covers one remaining restricted free agent season and two unrestricted free agent years, and it doesn’t include trade protection.<\/p>\n

The extension comes lower than two weeks after San Jose acquired the 26-year-old from the Buffalo Sabres in a draft-day trade. The Sharks received Kesselring and the twenty seventh overall pick in exchange for the twentieth overall selection. Buffalo later used No. 20 to draft forward Ilia Morozov, while San Jose packaged the twenty seventh pick to maneuver up and choose defenseman Ryan Lin at No. 21.<\/p>\n

Kesselring joins the Sharks seeking to rebound after a difficult 2025-26 campaign with the Sabres. Injuries, including a chronic knee issue and multiple ankle sprains, limited him to 34 regular-season games, where he recorded two assists, a zero rating, and averaged 13:24 of ice time. He also appeared in a single playoff game but spent most of Buffalo’s postseason as a healthy scratch after failing to secure a daily role under head coach Lindy Ruff.<\/p>\n

Last season, his production looked nothing prefer it did over the previous two years. During his first full NHL campaign with the Arizona Coyotes in 2023-24, Kesselring amassed six goals and 21 points in 65 games, together with a plus-11 rating and averaged 15:48 per game. He followed that with profession highs for the Utah Hockey Club, skating in all 82 games through the 2024-25 season and finished with seven goals, 22 assists, and 29 points while averaging 17:41 per contest. Across his time with Arizona and Utah, he collected 53 points (12 goals, 41 assists) in 156 games.<\/p>\n

Originally chosen by the Edmonton Oilers within the sixth round, 164th overall, of the 2018 NHL Draft, Kesselring never played for Edmonton before being dealt to Arizona on the 2023 trade deadline. Utah later traded him and Josh Doan to Buffalo in exchange for JJ Peterka through the summer of 2025.<\/p>\n

San Jose is betting that Kesselring can regain the shape he displayed before his injury-plagued season. He joins a Sharks blue line that currently includes Dmitry Orlov, Sam Dickinson, Luca Cagnoni, and Nolan Allan, while the organization also bolstered its defensive pipeline within the 2026 NHL Draft by choosing Keaton Verhoeff ninth overall and Ryan Lin twenty first overall.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The San Jose Sharks have signed defenseman Michael Kesselring to a three-year, $13. 5 million contract carrying a $4. 5 million average annual value through the 2028-29 season, in response to PuckPedia. Tthe agreement covers one remaining restricted free agent season and two unrestricted free agent years, and it doesn’t include trade protection.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The San Jose Sharks have signed defenseman Michael Kesselring to a three-year, $13.5 million contract carrying a $4.5 million average annual value through the 2028-29 season, in response to PuckPedia. Tthe agreement covers one remaining restricted free agent season and two unrestricted free agent years, and it doesn’t include trade protection. The extension comes lower […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":358284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[338],"tags":[985,52958,2311,692,12857,2277,3838],"class_list":["post-358283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-deal","tag-kesselring","tag-michael","tag-million","tag-sabres","tag-signs","tag-trade"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t