Sharks News & Notes (1/12/21)

 The 2021 NHL season is less than 24 hours from getting underway, while the Sharks' season opener is two nights away. Here are more headlines around the Sharks organization to prepare for the new season. 

By the way, the recent Evander Kane situation will be covered in a separate post, so be on the lookout for that soon. 

• The Sharks claimed Rudolfs Balcers off waivers from the Ottawa Senators. Balcers was originally drafted by the Sharks in the fifth round of the 2015 draft and led the AHL Barracuda in points, goals, shots on goal, and was second in assists during the 2017-18 season, with 48 points, 23 goals, 165 shots on goal, and 25 assists respectively. He was also named to the 2018 AHL All-Star Game and scored two goals and two assists for four points in four Calder Cup Playoff games that season. He was one of the players traded to the Senators, along with Chris Tierney, Dylan DeMelo, and Josh Norris, in the blockbuster deal for Erik Karlsson before the start of the 2018-19 season. Balcers has recorded six goals and 11 assists for 17 points in 51 career NHL games with the Senators. He has also tallied 115 total points in 143 AHL games for both the Barracuda and the Senators' affiliate in Belleville. His current salary is a one-year, two-way deal worth $735k, and it has yet to be determined where he will start the season.
  

•  The NHL previously announced they would allow helmet advertising for the 2021 season. As for the Sharks, their helmet advertising sponsors will be SAP and Zoom. The SAP decals will be featured on the black helmets the Sharks will wear during home games, while the Zoom decals will be on the white helmets that will be worn during road games. These sponsors make a ton of sense as the Sharks have a strong partnership with SAP and Zoom has become one of the biggest emerging tech companies out of Silicon Valley. 

 On a side note, I joined a fantasy hockey league for the first time for this coming season, and my fantasy draft was held today. I was able to draft two Sharks players on my fantasy team, specifically Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl. I may consider giving weekly updates on my fantasy team on here, but I'm not 100 percent sure yet.

Stay tuned to CPF Hockey for more Sharks updates throughout the 2021 season. 

Source: sjsharks.com