The reunion of Barclay Goodrow and the San Jose Sharks was rocky this offseason. It was mired in controversy as the New York Rangers found a way around Goodrow’s 15-team no-trade list by simply placing him on waivers. And while Goodrow presumably had the Sharks on that no-trade list, he never held the Sharks responsible for how things played out. He was upfront that his anger was directed at New York for how things were handled.
Goodrow showed his lack of animosity toward the team that claimed him through his play this past season. While he could have given up, or phoned in his performance, it wasn’t in his nature. Instead, he showed up every day to work and acted as a role model for the younger players entering the league.
Goodrow’s 2024-25 production
But in Goodrow’s case, effort, sadly, did not translate into success.
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | +/- | Shooting % | TOI/Game |
| 77 | 5 | 3 | 8 | -37 | 6.8% | 13:47 |
The 32-year-old did not break ten points on the fourth line and finished the season with a minus-37, the worst plus/minus stat on the team.
While Sharks fans fondly remember the forward who was good for a goal or two in a pinch, he is now two seasons removed from that ability.
Quick decline in production
In fact, Goodrow has seen a steady drop off in production since the 2022-23 season, when he scored 31 points in 82 games for the Rangers. While not ideal, it was an acceptable point total for a fourth liner.
Last season, Goodrow’s production dropped to 12 points in 80 games.
But it’s not just the points that fans should worry about. Looking at Goodrow’s regularized-adjusted plus-minus chart courtesy of Evolving-Hockey, you can see that Goodrow was among the worst in the league offensively.
Worse yet, his defense, which is what you want for a fourth liner at the very least wasn’t great either. Goodrow was the worst forward on the Sharks this season.
He offered little in the way of a positive statistical contribution.
In need of a refresh and reset
The one thing that Sharks fans can hope for is that Goodrow will see a bit of a resurgence next season now that he has a long offseason to refresh and reset. He’s played a lot of hockey over the years and had some long postseason runs leading to short offseasons designed more for recovery than anything else.
Goodrow has played in the postseason every season since 2018. That, along with being a relatively healthy forward, can wear on a body.
| Season | Team | Regular Season Games Played | Postseason Games Played |
| 2018-19 | SJS | 82 | 20 |
| 2019-20 | SJS/TBL | 70 | 25 |
| 2020-21 | TBL | 55 | 18 |
| 2021-22 | NYR | 79 | 9 |
| 2022-23 | NYR | 82 | 7 |
| 2023-24 | NYR | 80 | 16 |
Goodrow spoke to the media on locker room clean out day and said many times the offseason was solely focused on being healthy enough for training camp. With a longer offseason this year, he can do a bit more.
“I am looking forward to being able to really press it heading into the offseason fully healthy, and being excited to get back and get to work on things, improve things that I feel like maybe have slipped over the years just by not working at it. So yeah, I think for me personally, a long offseason is a good thing,” said Goodrow.
Goodrow’s future with the Sharks
Goodrow has two more years on a contract with a cap hit of $3,641,667 per season. He still has a 15-team no-trade clause. Unfortunately for the Sharks, his performance this past season does not live up to his cap hit, so moving the forward before the 2026-27 season (the final season of his deal) looks to be impossible.
Goodrow will play a role on the fourth line next season and will continue to serve as a penalty killer for the Sharks, if for no other reason than to shelter the minutes of the younger players. After that, it’s likely that Grier will look to move Goodrow with a single year remaining on his deal. While that might be a hard sell in the fall of 2026, it could be possible in early 2027 when Goodrow is on an expiring contract and a team with Cup aspirations needs a depth forward with grit.
Editor’s Note: Over the next few weeks, we will be rolling out the player reviews for the San Jose Sharks. We realize there were a lot of guys rotating into and out of the lineup and some of the key depth players were traded. As a result, Fear the Fin plans to focus on the players who are 1) still with the Sharks even if they are not under contract at the moment and 2) played 20 or more games for San Jose this season.
