The San Jose Sharks have reached the cap floor! Thanks to a big contract and a waiver wire pick-up that other teams weren’t willing to touch, San Jose Sharks General Manager Mike Grier has managed to reach the cap floor with time to spare. Today, Grier announced that the team had signed 33-year-old puck-moving defenseman Dmitry Orlov to a two-year contract worth $6.5 million per season and claimed the $4 million Nick Leddy contract off of wiavers.
“Dmitry is a strong, two-way defenseman who brings physicality and versatility on the ice,” said Grier. “He has a wealth of NHL experience, both in the regular season and playoffs, and his Stanley Cup championship pedigree is a valuable addition to our team. We are happy to have him.”
Orlov won a cup with the Washington Capitals in 2018. He has played in 867 career NHL games and has 327 points (76 G, 251 A). He has a career plus-134 rating, something that should help the Sharks.
Last season with the Carolina Hurricanes, Orlov played in 76 games and finished with 28 points (6 G, 22 A) and a plus-16 rating. He led defensemen with 101 hits. He averaged 20:00 minutes per game.
Sharks claim Nick Leddy off of waivers
The team also claimed defenseman Leddy off of waivers from the St. Louis Blues. The 34-year-old played in 31 games for the Blues last season and had five points (2 G, 3 A). He spent parts of the season injured, though he was healthy enough to play the tail end of the season and the first round of the playoffs against the Winnipeg Jets. Leddy averaged 18:40 of ice time per game last season.
Over his career, the defenseman has played 1,042 games and has logged 416 points (75 G, 341 A). He has played for the St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings, New York Islanders and Chicago Blackhawks. He won a Stanley Cup in 2013 while playing for the Blackhawks.
Leddy is in the final year of his contract.
Sharks’ cap implications
With the addition of $10.5 million, the Sharks are now almost $2 million over the cap floor, according to Puckpedia. That gives the team room to sign restricted free agents Jack Thompson and Danil Gushchin and still make some contract moves.
With Leddy and Orlov in the fold, the Sharks have eight NHL defensemen under contract, and that’s before Thompson gets a new contract. While the team could start the season with all of the defensemen on the roster and go light on forwards, it’s more likely that there’s another move in the works, such as a trade. It could be that Mario Ferraro or Henry Thrun are on the move. Both defensemen are in the final year of their contracts.
