When the San Jose Sharks traded Erik Karlsson to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the deal included a considerable salary dump in the other direction to make things work. Some, like Mikael Granlund, worked out to the benefit of the Sharks and the player. Others, like Mike Hoffman, did not.
It was no secret that the Montreal Canadiens wanted to offload Hoffman’s contract. It was something that had been rumored before, but the Canadiens seemed to have trouble finding any takers for a one-dimensional forward with a $4.5 million cap hit. With a flat cap, the team was desperate to find a new home for Hoffman.
This is how the 34-year-old forward ended up bundled in a three-team trade that saw Hoffman returning to the team that briefly acquired his rights in 2018.
Hoffman’s 2023-24 production
It would be nice to say that Hoffman at least delivered on the one aspect of his game that he always seemed to excel at: goal scoring. However, that wasn’t the case.
| Games Played | G | A | Pts | +/- | TOI/G |
| 66 | 10 | 13 | 23 | -21 | 13:43 |
Hoffman scored just 10 goals this season, a low that he had not reached since 2013-14 when he first broke into the league. His 23 points and 13:43 of ice time per game were also lows he had not seen since then.
In every category just about, this was Hoffman’s worst offensive season in more than a decade.
Without the power play, Hoffman does not play well
Hoffman makes his money on the power play.
Looking at his regularized-adjusted plus-minus (RAPM) for this season, there’s not much there that’s a surprise. At even strength, he wasn’t generating many chances, and he was not scoring at the rates that you would hope for a forward who’s paid more than $4.5 million per season. His power play impact was minimal, at best.
What really puts his game into perspective is the Evolving-Hockey RAPM chart from 2018-19, when Hoffman scored 70 points with the Florida Panthers.
You can see that at even strength, his RAPM chart is similar to this past season. In every category, he is below league average.
Yet he still scored 70 points that season and it boils down to the power play. In 2018-19, half of Hoffman’s points came on the power play. It’s a pattern that’s played out for most of his career. His five-on-five play tends to be below league average, while his power play inflates his numbers. This works out fine until those power play points stop coming.
And that’s what happened with the Sharks. When the power play fell off, Hoffman had nothing else to offer the team.
The effort simply wasn’t there
One of the hardest things to watch this season regarding Hoffman was his effort on the ice. When he wasn’t scoring, he never really seemed like he was making an effort.
According to Natural Stat Trick, he played 906:16 minutes this season. There were nine forwards that played 750 minutes or more for the Sharks this season. Of them, Hoffman was one of the least impactful players.
For example, Hoffman drew five penalties during his time on the ice, fewer than all of the other eight forwards. Nico Sturm drew 10, and Luke Kunin drew the most at 29. Hoffman was middle of the group with 31 takeaways.
He had the fewest hits of any of the forwards on the list. Hoffman delivered 21 hits in 66 games this season. For comparison, Anthony Duclair was next lowest on the list with 28 in 56 games and William Eklund had 72 hits in 80 games. Considering how much the Sharks didn’t have the puck, the coaching staff likely would have liked to see Hoffman delivering more hits.
Hoffman blocked 27 shots this season, again, the lowest among all players who 750 minutes or more for the Sharks this season.
And in the one area where he was supposed to excel, offense, Hoffman was also one of the least impactful among players who played more than 750 minutes. He had 71 shots. Only Nico Sturm had fewer, with 69. Considering that Sturm had a lot more time on the penalty kill than Hoffman and a lot less time on the power play, it doesn’t really cast the “offensive-minded” Hoffman in the best light.
Hoffman’s future with the Sharks
Hoffman officially becomes a free agent on July 1, but his time in San Jose was over well before that. An “undisclosed injury” on April 15 brought a merciful early end to Hoffman’s tenure, closing out his season before the official end.
San Jose has no intention of bringing Hoffman back next season, and it would honestly be shocking if Hoffman wanted to stay. The two sides are expected to part amicably.
The real question is, will any team take a shot at signing Hoffman in the offseason? At 34, he’s not the ideal candidate to experience an upswing in his production. He certainly didn’t do himself any favors with the performance he put in with the Sharks this season. It’s possible that when the music stops on free agency this season, Hoffman will find himself without a landing spot.
Editor’s Note: Over the next few weeks, we will be rolling out the player reviews for the San Jose Sharks. We realize there were a lot of guys rotating into and out of the lineup and some of the key depth players were traded. As a result, Fear the Fin plans to focus on the players who are 1) still with the Sharks and 2) played 20 or more games for San Jose this season.
