SAN JOSE – The Sharks have skilled a litany of points with their protection corps this season — from a COVID outbreak that eliminated 4 blueliners from the lineup to surgical procedures and long-term absences for each Erik Karlsson and Mario Ferraro.
By way of the adversity, although, the Sharks found they've some organizational depth on the place and used a kind of defensemen to accumulate a goalie they really feel is simply coming his prime.
Simply hours earlier than Monday’s NHL commerce deadline at midday (PT), the Sharks dealt in style defenseman Jake Middleton to the Minnesota Wild for goalie Kaapo Kahkonen and a 2022 fifth-round draft selection.
For the reason that begin of Sharks’ coaching camp in September, Middleton went from being a query mark so far as even making the NHL roster to a defenseman that drew curiosity from a handful of playoff-bound groups.
Middleton, who spent most of his skilled profession within the AHL earlier than this season, confirmed he can play alongside Norris Trophy winners Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns. He was additionally one of many Sharks’ premier powerful guys, keen to tackle all comers and rise up for teammates.
“Each single individual on the workers thinks the world of Midds and simply desires to essentially thank him for what he’s completed, and he’ll be missed,” Sharks assistant basic supervisor Joe Will mentioned. “We went into this deadline right here probably not going out and buying him per se, however he was a participant that groups needed on the deadline.”
The Sharks additionally traded veteran winger Andrew Cogliano, a pending unrestricted free agent, to the Colorado Avalanche for a 2024 fifth-round draft decide.
However the Sharks didn't commerce fellow pending UFA Alexander Barabanov, who enters Tuesday’s recreation with the Calgary Flames with 32 factors – fifth-most on the workforce. His future with San Jose past this season is unsure as he’ll doubtless earn a elevate from the $1 million he’s making this 12 months.
Takeaways from Monday’s strikes (and non-moves)
GETTING THEIR GUY: Will mentioned the Sharks scouted Kahkonen earlier than final 12 months’s growth draft for the Seattle Kraken earlier than they traded a second-round draft decide to accumulate Hill.
“We weren’t actually in a position to do something at that cut-off date,” Will mentioned. “We’ve saved our eye on (Kahkonen), and now was a possibility to accumulate him.”
Kahkonen had no inkling that he would possibly get traded, however he grew to become accessible after the Wild acquired three-time Stanley Cup-winning goalie Marc-Andre Fleury from the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Wild performed the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday night time and Kahkonen was on the ice for the workforce’s morning skate earlier than he was instructed he needed to meet with Minnesota’s entrance workplace.
“I used to be considering that one thing occurred to somebody in my household, so I used to be scared,” Kahkonen mentioned. “However then I heard I used to be getting traded. Clearly, it was a shock at first, however now that I’ve had a bit little bit of time right here to consider it, I believe it’s going to be an incredible alternative.”
Kahkonen has a .910 save proportion and a 2.87 goals-against common in 25 video games this season and is within the second 12 months of a two-year, $1.45 million contract. He will likely be a restricted free agent on the finish of this season.
Whether or not Kahkonen is the No. 1 goalie of the long run in San Jose stays to be seen. He’s solely performed 54 NHL video games. What we do know is that Reimer, regardless of having a terrific season, most likely wasn’t that man at 33 years previous. And Hill, regardless of having some standout moments in a Sharks uniform, is essentially unproven in that capability as effectively.
Reimer and Hill, although, haven’t been wholesome and accessible on the similar time for over two months, testing the organizational depth on the place. Zach Sawchenko obtained spot responsibility in current weeks however maybe isn’t able to be a full-time NHL goalie proper now.
So the Sharks took from an organizational space of energy, left protection, and used a kind of gamers in Middleton to get a goalie they really feel is simply coming into his personal in Kahkonen, who's in his third NHL season.
“The factor about Kaapo is it wasn’t something simply to deal with what’s occurring now with accidents,” Will mentioned. “We had a possibility to accumulate a 25-year-old, up-and-coming goaltender and that’s a participant that we checked out fairly extensively by growth final 12 months.”
How the Sharks plan to deploy their goalies for the remainder of this season as soon as Hill is ready to play once more just isn't instantly clear. Kahkonen is one recreation away from shedding his waiver exemption standing, so if he performs in yet another recreation, he’ll require waivers earlier than he might be assigned to the AHL.
What is understood is that the Sharks can now use Hill or Reimer as a commerce chip this offseason to maybe attempt to deal with one other space of want, comparable to depth scoring. They gained’t carry three goalies on the energetic roster subsequent season.
In AHL strikes, the Sharks traded Barracuda goalie Alexei Melnichuk to Tampa Bay for ahead Antoine Morand, and ahead Nick Merkley to the New York Rangers for defenseman Anthony Bitetto.
OUT OF RESPECT: Cogliano had 15 factors in 56 video games this season after he signed a one-year, $1 million contract to come back to San Jose as a free agent final July. Cogliano averaged simply over 13 minutes of ice time for the Sharks this season and led all forwards in penalty kill time, with slightly below two minutes per recreation.
Past the numbers, although, Cogliano, 34, was a mentor, as his preparation and work ethic served for instance to the workforce’s quite a few younger gamers.
As they’ve been out of playoff rivalry every of the final two years, the Sharks tried to work with a few of their veteran gamers to get them to groups that will likely be headed to the postseason.
The Sharks traded ahead Patrick Marleau to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Feb. 2020, though they weren’t in a position to get Joe Thornton to a Cup-contending workforce on the similar time earlier than the deadline. San Jose additionally despatched goalie Devan Dubnyk to the Avalanche final season.
The Avalanche entered Monday with an NHL-leading 44-13-5 report.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR BARABANOV?: It sounds just like the Sharks are open to retaining Barabanov previous this season if he can match underneath the wage cap.
Was this a missed alternative for the Sharks to attempt to recoup an asset for a top-nine ahead on an expiring contract? Perhaps. The workforce has till mid-July to attempt to attain an settlement with Barabanov’s camp earlier than the ahead is free to signal with any workforce.
Barabanov, too, may be open to a return. Contacted Monday, Barabanov’s agent, Dan Milstein, wrote, “Typically it takes one cellphone name. Joe has my quantity.”