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The San Jose Sharks were the worst team in the NHL this year, finishing the season 20-50-12. This was an improvement over their 2023-24 campaign, but still not even close to a playoff berth. The Sharks do have a young and exciting roster currently. This is led by the combination of Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith. While both players are young, they will need other stars with them to grow. This is the dream scenario for the Sharks in the 2025 NHL Free Agency period.
The Sharks have plenty to be excited about in the future. They may have been the worst team in the NHL, but they have plenty of assets to improve going forward. To start with, the average age of their forwards is just 25.4 years old, making them one of the youngest teams in the NHL. Also, the Sharks own two first-round draft picks in 2025. They also have two picks in the second round this year and four picks in the first two rounds next year.
Meanwhile, Logan Couture has been forced to retire from the NHL. This will free up salary cap space for the Sharks since he signed the contract before turning 35 years old. The Sharks have just seven pending free agents, with five of them being restricted free agents. They are also projected to have over $53 million in cap space this upcoming season, according to Cap Wages. The Sharks are not ready to contend yet this year, but they can have a dream offseason to be ready to contend in the future.
Sharks need to take care of restricted free agents
San Jose comes in with plenty of cap flexibility this offseason. They could re-sign every one of their free agents and would still project to have $44 million to spend. They do not need to bring every player back, though. The Sharks have five restricted free agents this offseason. One is goaltender Georgi Romanov. With Yaroslav Askarov expected to be the future in goal for the Sharks, the Sharks do not need to tender Romanov. Jack Thompson is the lone blue liner who is a restricted free agent, who played just 31 games and had four goals with six assists.
Still, other players figure to be of more importance for the future of the Sharks. Nikolai Kovalenko is just 25 years old and was solid in his time with the Sharks this year. He scored three goals while adding nine assists in just 29 games with San Jose this season. He is expected to make just $2 million this upcoming year, and should be brought back. The biggest needs for the Sharks come with players who will be entering restricted free agency in the 2026 offseason.
NHL teams can negotiate with 2026 pending free agents this offseason, and San Jose needs to start negotiations with William Eklund as soon as possible. He will be turning 23 at the start of the season, and was great last year. Last season, he scored 16 goals with 29 assists. Eklund then improved this year, scoring 17 goals and adding 41 assists, while playing 77 games. Further, he improved from a minus-45 plus/minus rating to a minus-seven this past year. He is projected to cost between $3.7 and $7.1 million AAV, depending on the length of the contract. Eklund has shown he is part of the young core with Celebrini and Smith. The Sharks need to lock him up long-term this offseason.
Bring back a familiar face
During the regular season, the Sharks traded away Mikael Granlund. They received multiple draft picks in return while also losing Cody Ceci. Now, Granlund is a free agent, and the Sharks need to bring him back. The Sharks have made a move like this in the past, trying to add a veteran presence to join their young core. Last year, it was Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg getting solid contracts from the Sharks to join this young team. Toffoli signed a four-year, $24 million contract, while Wennberg got two years and $10 million.
From a salary cap perspective, bringing in Granlund would be easy. He is expected to sign a contract similar to that of Wennberg last year. He will most likely require a no-trade clause, but the contract should not be an issue. Further, Granlund was highly productive in San Jose. In the 2023-24 season, after being sent to the Sharks from the Pittsburgh Penguins, he played in 69 games, scoring 12 goals and 48 assists. It was just the fourth time in his career that he scored 60 points. He was also great on the powerplay, with a goal and 22 assists.
Last year, before being traded from the Sharks, Granlund was playing even better. He played in 52 games, scoring 15 goals and 30 assists, while he also had five goals and ten assists on the powerplay. The center will fit well on the second line for the Sharks this season if they can find a way to bring him back.
Add a new goaltender
The Sharks have informed Alexandar Georgiev that he will not be re-signed. Meanwhile, Romanov is a restricted free agent who was 0-6-0 last year with a 3.89 goals-against average. Yaroslav Askarov is the future in goal for the Sharks. Still, Askarov is about to turn 23 years old and has a total of 14 starts at the NHL level. The Sharks need to bring an experienced goaltender who can make a majority of starts, and get Askarov ready for the NHL level. The perfect fit would be Anton Forsberg.
Forsberg has been the primary starting goaltender in the past, making 44 starts for the Ottawa Senators in the 2021-22 season. He was solid that year with a .917 save percentage as well, better than any goalie on the Sharks had this year. He was also solid this year, with a 2.72 goals against average and a .901 save percentage, making him an upgrade in goal. Forsberg has also been pushed out in Ottawa, with Linus Ullmark being brought in to be the primary goaltender. At an expected cost of just $1.7 million, Forsberg is a solid bridge option at a perfect price point for the Sharks. Then, when Askarov is ready, he will be the perfect backup.
A dream free agency period for the Sharks is all about the future. They need to start by locking up some of their top restricted free agents. To help their young core, the Sharks will bring back a familiar face in Granlund, while also helping their future goaltender by bringing in Forsberg. This will set up the Sharks for years to come and ideally, get them back to the playoffs as soon as possible.
