The Sharks will look to pick up an experienced top-four blueliner when the free-agent market opens July 1, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports.
San Jose, coming off a last-place 19 wins and 47 points, allowed the most goals in the league last season, conceding nearly four per game on average. That was despite largely solid performances in the net from Mackenzie Blackwood and Kaapo Kahkonen, its tandem for most of the season, who each performed slightly above expected, per MoneyPuck.
That places the blame squarely on an understaffed defense led by Mario Ferraro, journeyman depth piece Jan Rutta and rookie Henry Thrun. A blue line that was designed to fail after shipping out Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson to the Penguins over the summer performed as expected. According to MoneyPuck, the Sharks allowed 313 expected goals against in all situations, 24 more than the second-to-last Blue Jackets, who had 289.
Thus, with their big offseason splash at forward already set in the form of projected first overall pick Macklin Celebrini, prioritizing defense on the open market is the logical choice for general manager Mike Grier. Most of the Sharks’ cast last season is set to return — veteran Jacob MacDonald (who played forward for half the season anyway) is the only pending UFA.
But pushing overworked depth pieces down the depth chart is never a bad thing, and any addition will have its benefits outside of the player’s skill set. Allowing for reduced minutes for the trio above, plus reduced responsibility for others like Calen Addison and Kyle Burroughs, should lead to a slight overall improvement in their defensive game.
In terms of specific targets, Sean Walker is a name to watch when the free-agent frenzy begins, Pagnotta said. The 29-year-old is coming off a career season in which he scored 10 goals and 29 points in 81 games split between the Flyers and Avalanche, averaging a career-high 19:14 per game to boot.
Like everyone else on the Sharks roster, putting him in a top-pairing role is likely asking too much of him, but he’s still an upgrade on anyone they have. He logged a career-high 19:14 per game last season after toiling in third-pairing roles for the Kings the past few seasons.
He posted strong even-strength possession metrics (53.2 CF%) and logged significant time on the penalty kill in Philadelphia before being stripped of special teams usage on a deep Colorado blue line after a deadline deal sent him to Denver.
Walker’s market value has never been higher, too, and signing with a team with virtually infinite cap space this summer would allow him to take full advantage of it. Evolving Hockey projects him to land a five-year, $5M AAV deal on the open market, but he could likely bump that figure up in negotiations to join a rebuilder in San Jose.
The Sharks won’t be alone in their pursuit of Walker, though. Pagnotta reports the Hurricanes, Maple Leafs, Predators and Stars are all expected to engage with the defender’s camp once free agency begins.
After going without a point in 11 playoff games for the Avs with a -5 rating, it seems highly unlikely he’ll re-sign with a cap-strapped club dealing with financial uncertainty fueled by the futures of Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin.
There are plenty of other defenders with top-four experience for the Sharks to target if they don’t get Walker. While the biggest names like Brandon Montour and Brady Skjei seem unlikely to join a team in the throes of a rebuild, Alexandre Carrier, Matt Roy and former Shark Dylan DeMelo are names with top-four experience that could make sense.
