Sharks Re-sign Luke Kunin and Justin Bailey

 The Sharks have re-signed two depth forwards, Luke Kunin and Justin Bailey, to one-year contracts ahead of the official start of free agency tomorrow. 

Kunin’s deal is worth $2.75 million. He registered 11 goals and seven assists for 18 points in 77 games last season. He served as an alternate captain and led Sharks forwards in hits with 165 in 2023-24. Kunin also earned the Sharks’ nomination for the King Clancy Award the past two seasons for his charitable work involving his LKT1D Foundation. 

As for Bailey, his contract is worth $800k at the NHL level and $375k at the AHL level. He recorded five goals and nine assists for 14 points in 59 games, along with six goals and five assists for 11 points in 16 AHL games with the Barracuda after initially joining the organization on a PTO last season. Bailey fit in well with the Sharks and set career-bests in nearly all aspects of his game, including games played, goals, assists, points, and shots. In addition, he was the Sharks’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Trophy this past season, which is the NHL’s version of a comeback player of the year award. 

In all, it’s great to see Kunin and Bailey return to the Sharks for at least one more season. Hopefully both of these depth forwards can take a step forward in their performances and compete levels next season and help improve this Sharks team going forward. 

Update: In addition, ahead of the opening of free agency tomorrow, the Sharks issued qualifying offers to Egor Afanasyev, Thomas Bordeleau, Brandon Coe, Ty Dellandrea, Ty Emberson, Carl Grundstrom, and Henry Thrun. On the other hand, San Jose did not issue qualifying offers to Calen Addison, Jacob Peterson, Jack Studnicka, and Filip Zadina, making these four players unrestricted free agents. 

Sources: Sharks + SAP Center App, San Jose Mercury News

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