Dainius Zubrus signed by Sharks
The former New Jersey forward is inching towards a deal with San Jose.
UPDATE: The signing has been made official. Press release below.
SAN JOSE - San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) General Manager Doug Wilson announced today that the club has signed forward Dainius Zubrus to a one-year, two way contract.
Zubrus, 37, recorded 10 points (four goals, six assists) and 42 penalty minutes in 74 games with New Jersey last season. In 1,243 career NHL games with Philadelphia, Montreal, Washington, Buffalo and New Jersey, he has registered 584 points (225 goals, 359 assists) and 771 penalty minutes.
In addition, Zubrus has collected 35 points (11 goals, 24 assists) in 92 career playoff games. He played for current Sharks Head Coach Peter DeBoer in New Jersey from 2011-2014.
The six-foot-five, 225-pound native of Elektrenai, Lithuania, was originally drafted by Philadelphia in the first round (15th overall) of the 1996 NHL Draft.
When Dainius Zubrus skated with the Sharks what feels like a million years ago (okay, okay, a whole two weeks ago), Jonathan Wold and I were receptive. Clearly Doug Wilson and Peter DeBoer felt the same way as Curtis Pashelka reports the Sharks will sign Zubrus today.
Can confirm that #SJSharks will be announcing the signing of Dainius Zubrus today.
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) November 24, 2015 Friend of the blog Kevin Kurz expounds a little, saying the contract will be of the one-year variety (no surprise there). The 37-year-old will almost certainly not be able to jump right back into the lineup, but by next week I assume he'll slot into the fourth line. Mike Brown's dwindling third period minutes may suggest he's being replaced, or perhaps DeBoer prefers to play Brown with Zubrus and Nieto, a line that frankly wouldn't be terrible.
Zubrus could never live up to the contract he was given in New Jersey, but his numbers look perfectly acceptable for a bottom-six guy making very little money.