The San Jose Sharks seem to have the forward group lined up aside from a veteran forward add and possibly center insurance for Logan Couture. We assume that younger players like Will Smith and (fingers crossed) Macklin Celebrini will be asked to take a larger role in the offense this season.
General Manager Mike Grier and the rest of his staff will have to focus on defense as the free agency window opens tomorrow. The team needs a defenseman who can distribute the puck, preferably from the right side, and unfortunately, those are in high demand.
This list isn’t about some of the big fish because, let’s be honest, most of them are hunting for playoff-contending teams. We’re looking at some defensemen who might be a good fit for San Jose, especially if they’re looking for a little more money than they might get from the cash-strapped contending teams.
Brandon Montour – Florida Panthers
Fresh off of winning the Stanley Cup, the Florida Panthers can’t afford to keep Montour in the fold. He’s expected to hit free agency with a lot of teams gunning for him. However, the Sharks have something that some of the contenders can’t offer, cap space. The team can afford to offer some term (Grier has said he’s looking to go four years at most) and a considerable amount of money to get the player that the Sharks want. Montour has never been paid more than $3.85 million in a season.
Montour is a right-shot defenseman with 33 points in 66 games last season. He averaged 23:26 of ice time, so he can play tough minutes. He’s 30 years old, so Grier can dangle a contract with term and a higher price to try and entice the unrestricted free agent while not handcuffing the Sharks to a contract that ages poorly.
Matt Roy – Los Angeles Kings
It sounds like the Kings will let Matt Roy walk in free agency. Earlier this week, LA traded for Kyle Burroughs, who, we assume, is slated to fill Roy’s role at a fraction of the price. If the Sharks could get Roy as a replacement, that’s an upgrade.
Roy is another right-side defenseman. He’s considered a stay-at-home defenseman who can log top four minutes. He’ll block shots and play the penalty kill. He had 25 points in 81 games last season. Natural Stat Trick says his expected goals for percentage at even strength was 55.17%.
While Roy isn’t the puck-moving defenseman that the Sharks are looking for perse, the right side of the defense is light and Roy would be an excellent compliment to a player like Shakir Mukhamadullin or Henry Thrun, allowing either young defenseman the chance to make mistakes while still using their offensive game to make plays.
At 29, Roy is still in his prime. It’s expected that his next contract will be in the $6 million range. If Grier can keep the term down to four years, something in the $6-$6.5 million range, he might be a good signing for a team looking to take the next step.
Alexandre Carrier – Nashville Predators
If the price tag on Roy is too high, The Athletic suggests Carrier as a good substitute. Like all of the defensemen on this list so far, Carrier is a right-shot defenseman. He comes with a strong hockey IQ and strong two-way positional play.
The Hockey News’ Rob Couch reported, “At 5-on-5 during the regular season, Carrier had a Fenwick For %, Corsi For %, Shots For %, Goals %, expected Goals %, and High Danger Chances For % of at least 51% and a Scoring Chances For % and High Danger Goals For % of at least 50%.”
He can move the puck, which is something the Sharks need.
The downside for the 27-year-old Carrier is that he’s not the size that Grier and company have been leaning toward. At 5-foot-11 and 174 pounds, Carrier would be considered undersized, especially for a defenseman. That said, Grier understands that sometimes size is outweighed by skill.
In 73 games last season, Carrier contributed 20 points (4 G, 16 A). He had 3 points in 6 games in the playoffs.
If the Sharks were to consider Carrier, The Athletic projects his contract to be in the four-year, $4.4 million range.
John Klingberg – Toronto Maple Leafs
If the Sharks want to take a gamble, then John Klingberg might be a good bet. The defenseman signed a one-year deal with the Maple Leafs last offseason, only to discover that he needed season-ending bilateral hip surgery. It’s not a surgery that’s easy to recover from, but some team might take a chance on Klingberg given his age, 31.
His surgery happened in December and while there’s been no news of his condition as of late, he’s had some time to recover.
There was a time when Klingberg was a reliable defenseman with some offensive pop. In his 2017-18 season in Dallas, he had 67 points in 82 games. He followed that up with 45 points in 64 games the next season.
The Sharks could sign him to a short, one-year contract at a reasonable price with the promise of flipping him to a contender if he performs well. Klingberg would solve the immediate issue of lack of depth on the right-hand side while also giving San Jose a potential trade chip at the deadline.
Matt Dumba – Tampa Bay Lightning
Dumba is another player the Sharks could gamble on with the hopes of turning him into a trade asset at the deadline. The 29-year-old should conceivably have a lot of jump left in his game. We’ll pretend that his one-year in Arizona last season was an outlier and say that time with San Jose’s youngsters will rejuvenate Dumba and his game.
He would have to take a pay cut, however, to make the money work. San Jose can’t afford to retain if it needs to trade Dumba at the deadline, so the $3.9 million Arizona/Utah paid last season won’t cut it.
Dumba checks a lot of boxes for the Sharks. He plays the right side. He has/had scoring pop. He knows how to move the puck.
A one- or two-year deal at a low price with the promise of a trade gives the Sharks plenty of room to bail if they think Dumba doesn’t fit into the team’s plans down the road.
Brenden Dillon – Winnipeg Jets
There has been talk of a potential reunion between Dillon and the Sharks. Really, it’s just a bunch of Sharks fans either loving the idea or hating it. But hey, it’s worth exploring. Dillon is a capable defenseman, though he clogs up an already clogged left-hand side.
That said, he does offer that grit and toughness that Grier is looking for more of. Dillon is not afraid to drop the gloves and he’s happy to give a guy a healthy crosscheck to protect the netminder.
While Dillon doesn’t fill all of the Sharks’ needs, a reunion for the team wouldn’t be a bad idea, especially if injuries start to take their toll.
Conclusion
There are some other options. Kevin Shattenkirk might fill the role of a veteran defenseman who plays on the right-hand side, but I simply can’t bring myself to picture him in a Sharks jersey. Tony DeAngelo is another defenseman who shoots right, but again, the thought of him in teal is vomit inducing.
There have been suggestions of Mark Giordano being a “perfect” fit for the Sharks but our defense is already a bit slow. A 40-year-old defenseman is not what the Sharks need. Same goes for Ryan Suter, who was just bought out by the Dallas Stars. I don’t need to see a 39-year-old defenseman in teal either.
Ultimately, the Sharks will need to overpay and possibly offer a longer term than other GMs are willing to go if they want to land a quality defenseman in this free agency. The other option is to punt the decision down the road to a year or two, when the compete window starts to open and the team starts seriously looking at a potential playoff berth.
The good news is Grier seems to be aware that rushing things will only lead to heartache, so he’s trying to make measured, smart decisions instead of jumping the gun.
