The NHL free agency period has opened up, and the Sharks have struck a few significant deals via signings and a blockbuster trade.
San Jose has traded longtime defenseman Brent Burns along with forward Lane Pederson to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for forward Steven Lorentz, goalie prospect Eetu Makiniemi, and a conditional 2023 third-round pick. The Sharks will also be retaining 33 percent of Brent Burns’ salary.
Brent Burns recorded 10 goals and 44 assists for 54 points in 82 games for the Sharks last season and has three years left on his current contract at a cap hit of $8 million. In total, Burns has 227 goals and 550 assists for 777 career points in 1,251 regular-season games. In addition, Burns has 20 goals and 42 assists for 62 points in 94 playoff games and won the Norris Trophy as the league's top defenseman in 2017. Lane Pederson was added in the deal as a sweetener, as he didn't do much for the Sharks this past season.
As for who the Sharks received in return for Burnzie, Steven Lorentz recorded eight goals and five assists for 13 points in 67 games last season. In total Lorentz has ten goals and 11 assists for 21 points in 112 regular-season games, along with three assists in 16 playoff games. Eetu Makiniemi went 11-2-1 with a 2.06 goals-against average, .922 save percentage, and two shutouts for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL this past season.
Brent Burns was one of my favorite Sharks players during his tenure in San Jose, mainly for his great two-way game and personality, and I will miss him in Teal. At the same time, this was a necessary move for the Sharks to clear some cap space and further shake things up after missing the playoffs the past three seasons. It was down to moving either Erik Karlsson's or Brent Burns' contract in order to clear a significant amount of cap space for the Sharks, and the latter was much easier to move. In all, it was a tough decision to make, but is one that will benefit the Sharks in the long term.
The departure of Brent Burns has led to a handful of free agent signings for the Sharks. They are as follows:
- F Oskar Lindblom, 2 years x $2.5m AAV
- F Nico Sturm, 3 years x $2m AAV
- D Markus Nutivaara, 1 year x $1.5m
- D Matt Benning, 4 years x $1.25m AAV
- F Andrew Agozzino, 2 years x $775k AAV
Oskar Lindblom will get a fresh start in San Jose after spending his entire career with the Flyers so far. He scored 12 goals and 14 assists for 26 points in 79 games last season. In total, Lindblom recorded 50 goals and 47 assists for 97 points in 263 games with the Flyers. During the 2019-20 season, Lindblom was out for most of that season after being diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, and returned to the Flyers during the second round of the bubble playoffs later that season. He was a finalist for the Bill Masterton Trophy during the 2019-20 season and won that same trophy the following season.
Nico Sturm scored nine goals and eight assists for 17 points in 53 games with the Wild and three assists in 21 games for the Avalanche this past season, Sturm also recorded two assists in 13 playoff games with the Avalanche, helping Colorado win the Stanley Cup. In total, Sturm has 20 goals and 19 assists for 39 points in 132 games, along with two goals and three assists for five points in 22 playoff games. 2020-21 was Nico Sturm's first full NHL season.
Markus Nutivaara only played one game last season with the Panthers due to injury, collecting one assist in that game early last season. He recorded ten assists in 30 games during the 2020-21 season and has a total of 17 goals and 54 assists for 71 points in 275 games with the Blue Jackets and Panthers. Nutivaara also has two points in 17 playoff games.
Matt Benning spent the past two seasons with the Predators, recording 11 assists and 39 penalty minutes in 65 games. In total, Benning has 16 goals and 60 assists for 76 points in 366 games with the Oilers and Predators, picking up 195 penalty minutes.
Andrew Agozzino was signed to add veteran depth to the AHL Barracuda and has 20 goals and 23 assists for 43 points in 66 AHL games over the course of his career.
Overall, I like these free agent signings as solid depth pieces for the Sharks. In other news, the Sharks hired Doug Weight as their hockey operations adviser before the start of this year's free agent frenzy. Despite an eventful first day of free agency, the Sharks aren't done making moves yet, as they still need to find a head coach and are exploring the possibility of trading Kevin Labanc this offseason. Watch this space for more.
Multiple sources contributed to this post.
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