Free agent defensemen the Sharks could target

Update: The Buffalo Sabres didn’t qualify Jacob Bernard-Docker and he might be a good one for the Sharks to take a shot on. The 25-year-old had eight points in 40 games with the Sabres last season and averaged 13:37 per game. But you have to wonder on a team like the Sharks with fewer NHL defensemen, especially on the right-side, if a player like Bernard-Docker would get more of an opportunity.

I hate to tell you, friends, but the board looks bleak. The San Jose Sharks have a ton of cap space to work with this year, but buying the team a free agent defenseman might not be as easy as it sounds. By buying out Marc-Edouard Vlasic, San Jose has made it pretty clear that on the left side, it’s set. That means the team is looking for right-shot defensemen whether through signing at free agency or trade. Looking at the free agency board, there aren’t a lot of options out there.

Things got extra bleak in the last few days when Henri Jokiharju re-signed with the Boston Bruins, Dante Fabbro re-signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets and it sounds like Aaron Ekblad is staying in Florida.

According to Puckpedia, there are 36 free agent defensemen available on July 1. Of those, the following shoot from the right side:

It’s a short list that gets even shorter when you eliminate guys for cause. Burnsie should only play for a contender. That’s not us. We imagine that Johnson, Petry and Bortuzzo have similar aspirations. DeAngelo is a (insert favorite descriptor expletive here) human and should never wear teal. No, thank you.

We’ve now cut the list down to eight.

Getting back together with your ex

Getting back with your ex usually isn’t a good idea and it isn’t in this case either when it comes to Cody Ceci and Jan Rutta. No offense to either player. They’re both great lockerroom guys and definitely helped make sure the vibes in the Sharks’ room last season allowed the kids to grow. It would certainly help with the work hard but have fun culture that the Sharks seem to be cultivating, and keep the spirits up in what will be another losing season.

That said, we’re looking to take strides here, and getting back with one or both of the guys who helped you achieve a league-worst goal differential last season probably isn’t the way to do it. We’re going to pass on both Ceci and Rutta.

Seven options left.

Short-term (2 years), lots of money

Grier now has two paths he can take, both of which will require a lot of money, but the Sharks have the cap space to handle it.

Two players – David Savard and Travis Hamonic – are over 34 and would only be worth it if they’re willing to sign for two years or less. The other two – Jani Hakanpaa and John Klingberg – have a history of injury, and so two years feels like less of a risk. Admittedly, Klingberg’s performance with the Oilers last season sort of negates the injury risk, but hip problems are scary.

Any of these four players might be worth a one- to two-year deal. All of them would offer a short-term solution to San Jose’s problems on the right-side and a band-aid is all we need at the moment. The landscape of the NHL seems to change every season and you never know what you’re going to get. It would probably be acceptable to overpay for all of these players on short deals.

Longer-term (5 years max), still lots of money

As I was writing this morning, there was hope for Ekblad, then Florida went and messed things up. Which leaves the Sharks with a pair of options, at least in the free agency market. Noah Juulsen, a right-shot defenseman who played 35 games of the Vancouver Canucks this past season. Let’s be honest, Juulsen is a borderline NHLer who has played 157 total NHL games over the past seven seasons. He’s not a solution on the backend, but he could be had for cheap if that’s what the Sharks need.

The other option, and one that a lot of teams will be in the market for, is Nick Perbix, who played 74 games for the Tampa Bay Lightning last season and had 19 points. Perbix is another victim of Tampa Bay’s depth at the blueline, much like Jack Thompson was a few seasons ago. The trouble is, with a lot of teams competing for Perbix’s services this offseason, it’s hard to see Perbix choosing the Sharks. It’s going to have to be term and money that lures Perbix to San Jose and it’s hard to see Grier offering both for a defenseman that made $1.125 million last season and isn’t due that much of a raise. How much is Grier willing to overpay for a player who averaged 14:41 minutes per game on the Lightning last season?

Conclusion

As we said in the introduction, the free agent market is bleak this season, especially considering the one position that the Sharks desperately need to fill, right-side defense. While there is always the outside chance that San Jose signs one of the veteran defensemen like Burns, Johnson or Bortuzzo with the promise of trading them at the deadline, the most likely scenario is that the team will need to go the offer sheet, waiver wire or trade route to find the defenseman it truly needs. Luckily, the team is well positioned to do all three.

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