The San Jose Sharks made two notable additions to their forward group in free agency yesterday, signing Tyler Toffoli to a four-year contract, and adding Alexander Wennberg on a two-year deal. Toffoli’s contract carries a $6 million cap hit, with Wennberg’s deal worth $5 million per year.
Toffoli comes to San Jose after a stint in Winnipeg following the trade deadline, after bouncing around a bit over the last few years. This past season, he posted 33 goals and 55 points in 79 games, split between the Jets and New Jersey Devils. While Toffoli doesn't have a ton of speed, he has a great shot, and has shown to be able to provide consistent, top-six scoring.
The Sharks also get decent value with his contract, which is another bonus. We’ve seen teams like the Chicago Blackhawks overpay for players given their position as a non-playoff team (similar to the Wennberg contract, which will be discussed below), but the Toffoli contract comes in around market value.
I had projected a four-year deal for Toffoli to come in at a $5.75 million cap hit with HockeyComparables.com, which can be viewed below:
- ARTICLE: Projecting Tyler Toffoli’s next contract (HockeyComparables.com)
With Wennberg, the Sharks get a middle-six addition who’s able to play up the middle. The forward will be 30 years old in September, and this past season, he managed 30 points in 79 games, split between the Seattle Kraken and New York Rangers. While he won’t score much, typically only good for a little north of 10 goals per season, Wennberg is a good playmaker who can help to add a bit of secondary offense.
The Sharks did certainly overpay on his contract: I had projected a two-year deal for Wennberg to come in at $3.5 million, rather than the $5 million that he signed for. But with the Sharks having extra short-term cap space, they can afford to overpay for two years without any long-term consequences. It’ll be interesting to see how he’s worked into the lineup though, with the Sharks already potentially having a bit of a logjam up the middle, depending on the health of Logan Couture, and whether Macklin Celebrini and/or Will Smith make the jump to the NHL.
The team had also re-signed both Luke Kunin and Justin Bailey the day prior to free agency opening, which helps the team’s forward depth. Both deals are for one year, with Kunin at $2.75 million, and Bailey at $775,000. Meanwhile, the team added two defensemen yesterday in Lucas Carlsson and Jimmy Schuldt as well.
It’s been a busy few days for San Jose, but the moves have been positive overall. The team was able to bring in veterans in Toffoli and Wennberg to help make the team a bit more competitive, and also did well building through the draft. In addition to taking Macklin Celebrini and Sam Dickinson in the first round, the team added seven other prospects in rounds 2-7: Igor Chernyshov (33rd OA), Leo Sahlin-Wallenius (53rd OA), Carson Wetsch (82nd OA), Christian Kirsch (116th OA), Colton Roberts (131st OA), Nate Misskey (143rd OA), and Yaroslav Korostelyov (194th OA).
The Sharks are still a ways off, but Mike Grier and the organization have done a relatively good job taking steps in the right direction.
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
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