As reported by Chris Johnston of TSN, the Sharks have placed Noah Rod on unconditional waivers for the purposes of terminating the remainder of his contract. Rod signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Sharks in March of 2017, with an average annual value of $810,000. He was drafted by the Sharks in the second round, 53 overall, of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.
Over the past few seasons, it’s seemed less and less likely that Rod would break into the NHL. When he didn’t make the big club out of camp, he elected to play in his home country, with Genève-Servette of the NLA and Team Switzerland internationally, instead of suiting up for the San Jose Barracuda and adjusting to North American hockey — and more importantly, to the Sharks’ system as they moved to unify with their AHL affiliate.
Prospect evaluation by Emmanuel Perry of Corsica supports that Rod has drifted further from becoming NHL-ready over the last three seasons, particularly this last year, as shown below:
In total, Rod played 11 regular season games with the Barracuda over the last two seasons and five playoff games during 2016-17. He posted one goal and four assists, all during regular season games. With Genève-Servette, he tallied seven goals and two assists in 25 games last season.
The 22-year-old forward will likely return to Genève-Servette this season.
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