There’s no question the San Jose Sharks will be sellers at the NHL trade deadline. With the way things have been going for the Sharks, 5-3-2 in the last ten games, selling might be better sooner rather than later. For Team Teal, the real question is what pieces they will be able to sell and what will get the team the most value.
For the Sharks, just about everything should be on the table except for young prospects. Any conversation that starts with William Eklund, Fabian Zetterlund or Shakir Mukhamadullin should be cut off before it starts. However, veterans will be fair game. Move anyone calling about Marc-Edouard Vlasic or Mike Hoffman to the front of the line because we’re not getting many calls about them.
Given the current state of trade pieces, the odds of San Jose getting a top prospect aren’t likely, but the team still has some items to offer that could net draft picks. Plus, there’s always the possibility of a prospect for a prospect swap and that may be San Jose’s best way to improve at the trade deadline.
San Jose’s unrestricted free agents
Let’s start off with the unrestricted free agents. These are the guys who need new contracts at the end of the season, or they could be headed out the door for no return. A lot of San Jose’s UFAs don’t factor into the team’s future plans, so now is the time to trade them away and get a little something back.
Current UFAs on the Sharks roster include:
- Kevin Labanc
- Mike Hoffman
- Anthony Duclair
- Alexander Barabanov
- Justin Bailey
- Ryan Carpenter
- Kaapo Kahkonen
- Jacob MacDonald
Then there are the UFAs currently playing with the Barracuda. They include:
- Oskar Lindblom
- Radim Simek
San Jose’s restricted free agents
There are also some restricted free agents on expiring contracts. They can be a bit more appealing to teams because the acquiring team has a little more control of the player — think Timo Meier last season. The New Jersey Devils were willing to pay a higher price because Meier was not a pure rental player. He was an RFA, so the Devils had exclusive negotiating rights beyond the opening of the free agency window.
The following Sharks will be RFAs at the end of the season:
- Luke Kunin
- Filip Zadina
- Calen Addison
- Ty Emberson
- Nikita Okhotiuk
There are other guys playing in the AHL for the Sharks, but they likely have little trade value at the deadline unless the Sharks are swapping prospects or looking for a pot sweetener for a big trade.
Sharks players who likely won’t be traded at the deadline
While General Manager Mike Grier will listen to a suggested trade for almost any player on the team’s roster, he likely won’t receive many calls about the players in this section.
Radim Simek and Oskar Lindblom
Simek and Lindblom are still playing for the Barracuda, with the former recently named team captain. If there were a deal on the table for either of them, it would have already been done and San Jose would not have asked for much in return.
There’s no deal on the horizon for either player. It’s doubtful that Lindblom will be re-signed by the Sharks at the end of this season. Simek might be if it’s a two-way contract that allows him to continue with the Barracuda as an on-ice leader for a young group of prospects.
Kevin Labanc and Mike Hoffman
Sadly for the Sharks, Labanc and Hoffman have not had the resurgent seasons the team had hoped for, leading to low value at the trade deadline. Neither player is scoring or well known for their defensive skills or prowess in the faceoff circle.
Without those intangibles, it’s doubtful that San Jose can trade either Labanc or Hoffman unless the team is willing to retain salary. With two retained salary spots already in use (Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson), the Sharks only have one slot left. That means that, at the very least, it will have to choose between Labanc or Hoffman.
The Athletic has Hoffman listed as number 32 on its latest trade board, but having watched him play this season, I can’t see how that’s justifiable.
San Jose’s trade pieces that could offer some value
While the phone won’t be ringing off the hook, these players could generate a little attention at the trade deadline.
Justin Bailey
Bailey is a big player that plays with speed. What’s more, he’s a responsible fourth-liner with some offensive upside. He’s the kind of player that contending teams might be looking for if they think their bottom six is a little light.
Bailey comes with the added benefit of a very affordable contract at $775,000 AAV.
Grier may be able to get a late-round pick for Bailey if he works the phones.
Ryan Carpenter
Carpenter is in the same boat as Bailey but comes with the added benefit of being a center. Not only is Carpenter a responsible fourth-liner who can score, but he’s also a penalty kill asset and performs well in the faceoff circle. Carpenter is 47.49% in faceoffs this season. Not great, but not horrible either.
He also comes with a $775,000 AAV, making him a very affordable option for a contending team.
Jacob MacDonald
MacDonald should garner a little interest, if only because he can play forward or defense for a team. It’s good to have a utility player who can slot in where needed. His $762,500 cap hit certainly helps his value, especially for a team up against the cap looking to add a small piece for a playoff run. A fifth or sixth round pick might be a nice return for MacDonald.
Luke Kunin
Kunin plays the kind of game that Grier likes, so it’s not likely that Grier trades him unless the deal is too good to pass up. For a team in the playoff race, Kunin is a bottom six player that could become an asset. He kills penalties, is passable in the faceoff circle and plays with grit.
Penalty killers are essential in the playoffs and Kunin might fit the bill for a contending team. The one roadblock may be his $2.75 million AAV. It could be tough for contending teams looking for a depth piece to swallow.
Filip Zadina
Zadina was a low-cost, high-potential play for Grier during free agency this summer. While it hasn’t exactly panned out, it was still a good risk. Zadina has had flashes of scoring skill during this season. He has 13 points (5 G, 8 A) in 46 games. Teams might be looking to take a chance on him at the deadline believing that if he’s surrounded by more skilled players, he would thrive. After all, Zadina doesn’t quite have the leaguewide track record yet.
With a $1.1 million AAV and team control in the summer, Grier might be able to convince a contender to part with a low-round draft pick in exchange for Zadina.
Ty Emberson, Calen Addison and Nikita Okhotiuk
I doubt that any or all of these three players will be available at the deadline. As RFAs, they’re young defensemen who have room to grow. Moreover, they have been far from the worst players on the Sharks’ defense this season. I think Sharks’ management sees at least a few of them as part of the new Sharks coming out of the rebuild.
Of them, Addison might be the most expendable. He’s the one who was supposed to bring an offensive upside to the Sharks but hasn’t flourished the way the team had hoped. Now that Shakir Mukhamadullin has emerged and looked as good as he has with the Sharks, Addison has become replaceable. It looks like Mukhamadullin is close to ready to lead that top-unit power play and if Addison is moved at the deadline, Mukhamadullin should be up for good.
Top 5 Sharks assets at the trade deadline
So far, we’ve only talked about the pieces that might yield the Sharks a low-round draft pick if the conditions are right. It doesn’t get much better from there. The following pieces are the Sharks’ best trade assets at the deadline, and they may not get the team back much in return.
5. Alexander Barabanov
At the start of the season, it looked like Barabanov might be one of the best assets the Sharks had. However, he is well off his points pace from the past few seasons. With 9 points (3 G, 6 A) in 31 games, Barabanov is 11th on the team in scoring. That doesn’t exactly scream, pick me.
A proven track record in the past few seasons might convince teams that it’s simply the team around Barabanov rather than an issue with the player. Plus there’s the fact that he’s recovering from a broken finger, which might give him the benefit of the doubt.
If there’s one hurdle, it’s his $2.5 million AAV. If Grier manages to pull a low-round draft pick out of this, he’ll be lucky.
(Side note: Barabanov is listed as 42nd on The Athletic’s trade board.)
4. Mikael Granlund
A few weeks ago, it didn’t seem like Granlund would be on the trade block. After all, the forward has one more year left on a contract that pays him $5 million a season. However, the rumblings of teams being interested in Granlund have started. According to Daily Faceoff, Granlund is number 15 on the trade targets board.
Granlund is currently injured but is expected to return to the team as early as Wednesday when the Sharks’ season resumes. If it was anything like his return earlier in the season when he was one of the top scorers leaguewide halfway through the month of December, Granlund will garner interest. With 29 points (5 G, 24 A) in 38 games, Granlund could be a great deadline pickup for a team.
The trouble is the price. Granlund has one more year left on a contract that pays him $5 million per season. That’s a tough pill for a contending team to swallow, considering most of them are already up against the cap.
3. Cap space and a retention slot
One solution for the Sharks may be using the cap space and retention slot to help move Granlund. It’s hard to see Sharks management saying no if someone offered up a first-round draft pick in exchange, especially if that pick is for next season when anything can happen.
Even if a deal involving Granlund can’t be done, Grier has done an excellent job of clearing out cap and freeing up cash for the team to work with. It’s the first season in a long time that the Sharks haven’t been right up against the cap, and more money is expected to come off the books this summer. The Sharks are looking to acquire more picks and prospects, so leveraging the cap space or a salary retention slot to help broker a deal would be a great way to go about it.
Using the retention slot to help broker a deal for a player on an expiring contract is a low-risk proposition for the Sharks. It doesn’t damage any future plans while yielding the team a reward for an asset.
According to CapFriendly, San Jose will have more than $10 million in cap space at the deadline. That makes it possible for San Jose to help broker a big deal or take on a bad, expiring contract to help a team make a deal of its own down the road.
2. Kaapo Kahkonen
While the goalie market has quieted a bit, as the big contenders find their goalies coming into form, anything can happen in the playoffs. As the Vegas Golden Knights proved last season, you can never have too many goalies.
Of the goalies on the market, or rumored to be on the market, Kahkonen might be the most intriguing. Chris Johnston of The Athletic has five goalies on his trade board; of them, Kahkonen’s deal is the most cap-friendly with a $2.75 AAV. Since he’s on an expiring deal, there’s no long-term investment required as there would be with a player like Jake Allen or Jacob Markstrom.
Kahkonen’s situation might be ideal for a contender looking for a little insurance at an affordable price. Of all the Sharks on this list, the goaltender might be the easiest to move since it’s well-known around the league that of all the issues with the Sharks this season, goaltending is not one of them.
1. Anthony Duclair
Even in a down individual season, Duclair is still the best trade asset for the Sharks. Johnston has him as 21 on the trade board. Duclair is on an expiring contract with a $3 million AAV, which makes him an affordable scoring option for many teams. What’s more, while the forward has 17 points (9 G, 8 A) in 46 games, there’s reason to believe he’s just not surrounded by the right players.
The Athletic’s Shayna Goldman wrote an incredible article in January looking specifically at Duclair and his lack of production this season. What she found is that Duclair can’t be the strongest player on a line, he needs to be surrounding by players much stronger than him to truly succeed. Goldman pointed out that when Duclair returned to the Florida Panthers last season, he was on a line with Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe, which helped him do what he does best, score.
“At his best, Duclair could be counted on to help drive play into the offensive zone with control. He’s a threat off the rush and can be counted on for shots off the cycle as well,” wrote Goldman. “The key to the latter is pairing him with a strong forechecker to make the plays that extend possession time. Duclair can generate his own chances (and convert on them), but he thrives alongside a dangerous passer. Plus, he’s shown in his best seasons that he can also be a puck distributor in the offense zones to set up his teammates.”
Contending teams, which all have better depth than the Sharks, should easily fit Duclair into their lineup and see him contribute during a playoff run. That’s good for San Jose, which needs to get the most out of its top asset.
Final thoughts on the Sharks trade deadline
The Sharks don’t have a lot to offer contending teams. Most of San Jose’s top assets have already been moved. The gambles San Jose took in the offseason on potential trade pieces (i.e. Zadina, Duclair) didn’t pan out. I still think they were the right moves.
That said, Grier should be able to get low-round picks for at least some of the players on this list. That’s good because a rebuilding team like the Sharks needs more draft picks. San Jose only has eight picks in 2024 and eight in 2025. The team is missing its third-rounder and a sixth-rounder this year. Filling some of those holes and stockpiling picks would help push this rebuild along even faster.
As many of you know, Fear the Fin is an independent site run by Sharks fans for Sharks fans. Help keep Fear the Fin independent by contributing to our