Heading into free agency, the San Jose Sharks had a lot of restricted free agents and unrestricted free agents that General Manager Mike Grier had to re-sign to new contracts or allow to explore free agency. With all the craziness of the last few days, it’s hard to keep track of what happened to all of them, so here’s a quick rundown of where they went and who is still looking for a contract.
Egor Afanasyev, Forward
Afanasyev never really got a shot with the Sharks and as such, he was allowed to walk into free agency this summer. It looks like there were no NHL teams looking to sign him, so, according to Tony Androck of Inside AHL Hockey, Afanasyev is headed back to the KHL.
AHL ➡️ 🌎#SJSharks UFA forward Egor Afanasyev signed two-year deal with Avangard Omsk (KHL).
— Tony Androckitis* (@TonyAndrock) July 5, 2026
Afanasyev, 25, had 40 points (14G-26A) in 64GP with @sjbarracuda in 2025-26.@InsideAHLHockey #AHLFreeAgency26
Androck reports that the 25-year-old has signed a two-year deal with Avangard Omsk.
Nolan Allan, Defense
Allan is back with the Sharks on a two-year deal worth $875,000 per season. There’s just one problem: while Allan’s deal is a two-way contract, which means he can move up and down between the big club and the Barracuda, he’s not waivers exempt. That means another team can steal him at any time. Still, Allan might find his way into the lineup for a game or two this season if injuries plague the Sharks’ lineup.
Noah Beck & Shane Bowers
Neither Beck nor Bowers was extended a qualifying offer by the Sharks, so they both became unrestricted free agents on July 1. So far, there’s no word on either player receiving offers from other teams, so it looks like they’re unsigned to date.
Laurent Brossoit
Goaltender Brossoit is headed down the I-5 to Anaheim. The Ducks signed the 33-year-old to a one-year deal worth $1.1 million. Brossoit is expected to be the third goaltender in the Ducks’ rotation behind starting netminder Lukas Dostal and backup Ville Husso.
Ethan Cardwell
Cardwell is back with the Sharks for at least one more season. The 23-year-old signed a one-year deal worth $850,000. It’s a two-way deal and Cardwell will still be an RFA even after the contract expires. Just the same, it feels like this is the forward’s final shot with the organization.
Cardwell’s deal is not waiver-exempt, which means that every time he moves up and down between the Sharks and the Barracuda, the Sharks risk losing him.
Lucas Carlsson
Despite helping the Barracuda last season, Carlsson will not be returning to the United States in the fall. The 29-year-old defenseman has decided to return to Sweden to play for Djurgården IF. Carlsson signed a four-year deal with Djurgården IF in May.
It’s a tough loss for the Barracuda, who relied on Carlsson as a leader on the blueline.
Gabriel Carriere
Carriere was not tendered a qualifying offer and, so far, has not received any offers from other teams. As of now, we do not know where he will be playing in the 2026-27 season.
Vincent Desharnais
On the first day of free agency, Desharnais cashed in and good for him. The defenseman parlayed his quality play for the Sharks into a four-year, $16.8 million contract with the Washington Capitals. Desharnais now has a place to play for the next four years. His biggest contract prior to this was $4 million total for two years, so good for Vinny!
Mario Ferraro
There was a rumor out there that the Toronto Maple Leafs wanted to sign Ferraro, but that the team needed to wait to get its Morgan Rielly mess worked out before it could make that signing. Of course, none of that was confirmed and on the first day of free agency, Rielly was still a Leaf and Ferraro needed a home. So, the defenseman instead signed a three-year, $12 millon deal with the Winnipeg Jets.
For fans saying, the Sharks could have kept Ferraro for that much. It’s probably true, but it’s also true that the time was right for the team and the defenseman to part ways.
Collin Graf
The Sharks have tendered a qualifying offer to the restricted free agent, which is all the team needs to do to ensure that the forward will be there next season. That said, to keep things on good terms with the forward, working something out soon would be ideal. Graf isn’t arbitration eligible, which means they’ll have to talk things out.
The good news is, it sounds like the two sides aren’t too far apart.
Mike Grier said the Sharks and Collin Graf's camp are not super far apart in terms of what that next deal looks like. Graf is an RFA coming off a 21-goal season.
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) July 2, 2026
Jimmy Huntington
Huntington will return next season on a one-year, two-way contract. He’s expected to be one of the leaders with the Barracuda and had 48 points in 71 games last season. The forward is not waivers eligible, but we expect he’ll clear just fine.
John Klingberg
Klingberg was allowed to walk in free agency, and we doubt, given the way Grier has now filled the holes on the blueline, that there will be a last minute reunion with the defenseman. That said, it’s a bit disappointing that no other team has offered him a small one-year deal to try things out. As of this writing, Klingberg still sits on the free agent market, but we hope he finds a place to land. He’s a good guy and he deserves another shot.
Philipp Kurashev
Forward Kurashev was allowed to walk in free agency, but still hasn’t found a team to call home. While it sounds like he’s holding out hope that an NHL team will sign him to a contract, he’ll have a place to land if he doesn’t find a home in North America. According to Swiss Hockey News, at least one team has tried to get Kurashev to come home to Switzerland.
So far, the 24-year-old has not committed to a return to Europe. It’s possible he’s waiting for some of this free agency dust to settle with names like Anthony Mantha, Patrik Laine and Vladimir Tarasenko still on the board.
Samuel Laberge & Nick Leddy
Both Laberge and Leddy were allowed to walk in free agency. So far, there’s no word on where either player will play next season.
Shakir Mukhamadullin
Mukhamadullin was traded in that deal that brought Darnell Nurse to the Sharks and a few days later, the Edmonton Oilers announced that they had re-signed the 24-year-old defenseman to a two-year deal with $1.75 million per season.
Ryan Reaves
A few months ago, it looked like the Sharks might be open to bringing back the 39-year-old enforcer to help keep the vibes going in San Jose, but then free agency dropped. The Sharks signed Mason Marchment and Jacob Trouba and now it looks like Reaves will not be back. There’s no way that the Sharks can guarantee that Reaves reaches the 1,000 games mark, which is the most important thing for the player.
While he might get a shot with another team, it might be a while before we hear that the forward has a deal in place.
Pavol Regenda
The Sharks chose not to offer Regenda a new contract and so far, the forward has not found a new team to call home. Like Kurashev, he’s going to have to wait until some of those bigger names fall off the board. He might also just have to see if he gets a PTO with a team.
Jakub Skarek
The Sharks allowed Skarek to walk at the end of the Barracuda season and it would be no surprise if he finds his way to Europe. After all, the goaltender was on his way there before the Sharks scooped him up on July 10 of last year. Skarek was headed to Finland to play hockey last season before Grier decided that he needed someone a bit more seasoned to play with the Barracuda.
But this year, Grier signed Eric Comrie to fill that role, so it looks like Skarek is on his way out.
Colin White
White was another veteran with the Barracuda that the Sharks allowed to walk on July 1, who, so far, has not found a new home. As far as we know, White has no offers at this moment and is still looking for a team.
Jett Woo
This one’s a bummer because it initially looked like a good swap when the Sharks traded Jack Thompson to the Vancouver Canucks for Jett Woo. It looked like the two teams switched off right-shot defensemen to see if they could jump-start both. But the Sharks allowed Woo to leave at the end of the season and Woo ended up signing a two-year, two-way contract with the Anaheim Ducks on July 1.
