SAN JOSE – Although the San Jose Sharks have likely already done all of the heavy lifting on the subject of signing free agents, there should still be one spot to fill before training camp begins in September: signing a 3rd goalie.
The Sharks have had at the least five goalies under contract over the past two years under general manager Mike Grier, but they entered this week with only 4 NHL contracts: Mackenzie Blackwood, Vitek Vanecek, Magnus Chrona and Georgi Romanov.
Barring any significant changes or injuries, Blackwood and Vanecek will begin the season with the Sharks and Chrona and Romanov might be assigned to the Barracuda.
What the Sharks are missing is a 3rd goalie with NHL experience, someone who will be brought back from the AHL at short notice without the Barracuda being understaffed.
On July 1, Grier said the Sharks would “continue to look around and look at the No. 3 spot at some point in the offseason.”
With this in mind, a return of Martin Jones to San Jose may very well be an excellent option.
Jones was the Sharks' top goaltender from 2015 to 2021, posting a 171-120-27 record, making him the franchise's second-most successful goaltender behind Evgeni Nabokov (293). He made 60 consecutive playoff appearances between 2016 and 2019, and his .916 postseason save percentage is one of the best of any Sharks goaltender who has appeared in at the least five playoff games.
Between the regular season and the playoffs, from the 2015–16 to the 2020–21 season, no goalie within the NHL has played more games (387) than Jones.
But all that work took its toll. Jones' game deteriorated and his time with the Sharks ended unhappily.
After their second consecutive playoff-less season in 2021, the Sharks and then-general manager Doug Wilson bought out the ultimate three years of Jones' six-year, $34.5 million contract. The contract will remain on the team's books through 2027 – at a price of $1.666 million per season.
After his ignominious departure from San Jose, Jones spent a season in Philadelphia and Seattle. His numbers in each cities, each traditional and advanced, weren’t great.
So why would Jones be an excellent fit as San Jose’s No. 3 goalie?
Last season, he played the identical role for the Toronto Maple Leafs, starting in NHL games after Joseph Woll was sidelined for nearly three months with an ankle injury and Ilya Samsonov's form declined.
Jones worked consistently, recording a record of 11-7-1 with a good .907 save percentage in 20 games from early December to late February.
Last month, The Athletic reported that Jones may very well be open to a return to Toronto, where Woll and Anthony Stolarz are under contract for next season.
Like Toronto, San Jose offers free agents the good thing about having the NHL and AHL teams in the identical city. But if the regrouping Sharks want Jones, they might should pay him greater than the $875,000 he made last season with the Leafs. That's not an issue considering the team's ample salary cap space.
Perhaps a reunification will not be out of the query.
PAVELSKI’S RETIREMENT: With former Sharks captain Joe Pavelski's retirement now official, it's time to contemplate whether his resume is sufficient to induct him into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Our conclusion: Maybe sooner or later, but not immediately when he’s eligible in three years.
There are a couple of things to contemplate.
Pavelski, who turned 40 last week, never won a serious individual award, but his name was often within the running for the Selke and Lady Byng honors. He was voted an All-Star 4 times and was chosen to the All-NHL second team after a 41-goal season in 2013-14. Beginning with the 2011-12 season and ending after the 2018-19 season, Pavelski scored 252 goals, a complete surpassed only by Alex Ovechkin (357), Steven Stamkos (274), John Tavares (266) and Patrick Kane (253) during that span.
The highly respected Pavelski won a silver medal with the US national team on the 2010 Olympic Games and is ranked 71st on the NHL's all-time list with 1,068 points. With a couple of exceptions, all players ahead of him are either within the Hall of Fame or still lively.
Joe Thornton, 14th on this list with 1,539 points, needs to be inducted next yr in his first yr of eligibility. Patrick Marleau (53rd, 1,197) may not be far behind.
When and if Marleau is inducted, discussions about induction into the Pavelski Hall of Fame can begin, not before.
CALDER RACES: Despite being chosen first in June, Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini is neither a surefire favorite nor a betting favorite to win the Calder Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year next season.
According to DraftKings, Philadelphia Flyers forward Matvei Michkov is the favourite to win the Calder at +450, with Celebrini at +500. He is followed by Dallas' Logan Stankoven (+550), Anaheim's cutter Gauthier (+650) and Sharks forward Will Smith (+700).
Both Michkov and Celebrini might be top-six forwards and power-play mainstays this season. But with Michkov, you might have to wonder how he’ll function under Flyers coach John Tortorella. What happens when Michkov doesn't fight hard enough for a puck or doesn't run to the purpose fast enough to get in the way in which of a shot? Will that affect Michkov's ice time or his feelings toward the coach?
Something to have a look at.
MORE EX-SHARKS: A report from the Czech Republic speculated this week that Filip Zadina, who has not signed a contract with an NHL team, could return to his home country to play for his father Marek at Dynamo Pardubice. Zadina, 24, scored 13 goals and 23 points in 72 games for the Sharks last season.
He's not the one former Shark still in search of work: Three weeks into free agency, forwards Kevin Labanc, Mike Hoffman, Alexander Barabanov, Ryan Carpenter, Nikolai Knyzhov and Calen Addison are still on the roster.
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