The San Jose Sharks made a rather eyebrow-raising move on Wednesday. The Sharks claimed veteran forward Barclay Goodrow off waivers from the New York Rangers. They absorbed the final three years of the 31-year-old's contract and take on his full $3.6 million cap hit. It was a move that caught some by surprise, and reportedly left Goodrow rather displeased.
New York Post columnist Larry Brooks wrote an op-ed defending the Rangers for placing Goodrow on waivers. In this op-ed, he revealed some information about the move. According to his sources, Goodrow may have had the Sharks on his 15-team no-trade list. Brooks also notes that his feelings on joining San Jose were not accounted for when he was waived. And he shared information about how the now-former Rangers forward feels about all of this.
“We’ve been told by several folks that Goodrow — who scored six goals in 16 postseason matches after recording four in 80 games during the regular season — is not happy about how this went down,” Brooks wrote for the New York Post.
Why the Rangers wanted to trade Barclay Goodrow
Goodrow is not the most skilled player. The veteran forward mostly lives on a team's bottom-six and penalty kill. He is a defensively sound center who can chip in a point every so often. But not enough to necessarily consider him a secondary scorer.
However, beyond his defensive abilities, Goodrow also thrives in big moments. The 31-year-old does not score in the regular season, but the Stanley Cup Playoffs are another matter. He scored six goals this postseason with the Rangers while shooting 40%. The shooting percentage is unsustainable, but he can show up in big moments.
That said, New York needed to get out of his contract. $3.6 million is a lot to pay for a player who has yet to score 15 goals and/or 35 points in a season. His defensive ability does not make up for the lack of offensive production at that price tag. Additionally, the Rangers had less than $10 million in salary cap space before this move.
It's certainly understandable why New York wanted to make this move. But Goodrow had a modified no-trade clause inserted into the contract when he joined the Blueshirts in 2022. The Rangers used waivers to get around that, and now don't have to worry about a potential buyout.
Why Sharks claimed Barclay Goodrow
The Sharks had a horrific 2023-24 NHL season. And general manager Mike Grier knew his team needed to get better. While Goodrow is not one of the top players in the league, he does make them better. Furthermore, he is rather familiar with San Jose.
Goodrow began his career with the Sharks. He played for them from 2014-15 until 2019-20 when he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He did not play in the playoffs for San Jose during their run to the 2016 Stanley Cup Final. That said, he did make appearances in their 2018 and 2019 postseason runs. In fact, he scored an overtime winner against the Vegas Golden Knights in 2019 to send San Jose to the second round.
Beyond that, the 31-year-old brings defensive stability, grit, and veteran experience to the table. Goodrow has plenty of experience in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, including two Stanley Cup runs with the Lightning. All of this could prove valuable to the Sharks. Additionally, taking on Goodrow's cap hit helps San Jose reach the salary cap floor.
With this said, this is certainly a shady move on behalf of the Rangers and Sharks. Goodrow successfully negotiated his modified no-trade clause into his contract. As a result, New York should have honored it, especially given that they gave it to him in the first place. It'll be interesting to see if anything else comes out about this situation.
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