Sharks’ General Manager Doug Wilson is one step closer to locking up his defense core. The Mercury News’ Curtis Pashelka reports that Radim Simek will soon be locked up through the 2023-2024 season, all he has to do is sign on the dotted line.
Report: Sharks, Radim Simek agree to new four-year deal https://t.co/dNjH7HqqPR
— Mercury News (@mercnews) March 2, 2020
Pashelka reports the contract is expected to be a four-year deal worth about $8 million dollars. For those of you watching the cap (i.e. all of us) that’s an AAV of $2 million. CapFriendly is reporting something a little higher, four-years at $9 million for an AAV of $2.25 million.
So what’s the hold up on the announcement?
Well, Wilson is currently in Boca Raton, FL meeting with the league’s general managers. He’s expected to be there until March 6, so don’t expect a Simek announcement until Wilson gets back to San Jose.
Simek has played 43 games prior to Tuesday night and has 8 points this season (1 goal, 7 assists). He is a minus-13 and has 14 penalty minutes. Not great numbers, but remember the 27-year-old Simek is less than a year removed from surgery to repair a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee. And there were some complications from the surgery that popped up in December. It’s only just recently that Simek started to get his game back.
My best comparable to Radim Simek is Brenden Dillon, who as we know the Sharks simply could not afford to keep past this season.
As you can see from this Evolving Hockey chart, Simek’s numbers for the entirety of his NHL career (2018-2020) compared to Dillon’s aren’t as good. But Simek has really only had one full season of hockey under his belt and I believe he has the ability to improve.
Plus, if you look only at the work that Simek did in the 2018-2019 season before his injury, you see that he is defensively sound.
Given that this is a poor season for virtually all of the Sharks and that Simek spent a number of games getting back up to game speed after his right knee surgery, I’d say that if the Sharks did sign Simek to a four-year, $8 or $9 million contract extension, that’s a good deal for team teal.
If the report is true, the Sharks will have five defensemen locked up for next season according to CapFriendly.
Erik Karlsson – $11.5 million
Brent Burns – $8 million
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – $7 million
Radim Simek – $2 million
Mario Ferraro – $925,000
That’s close to $30 million for five roster players, but the Sharks may be able to keep the money spent on defense to a reasonable price. They can reach a contract with RFA Jacob Middleton, or sign short term deals with Brandon Davidson or Tim Heed without spending too much. It’s also possible that one of the prospects in the AHL will surprise during training camp just as Ferraro did this season and Simek did midway through last season.
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