The San Jose Sharks have added another center to its burgeoning group of forwards. The team signed Alex Wennberg to a two-year, $5 million AAV contract today. It’s a bit of an overpay for the 29-year-old (he’ll be 30 in September) center who had 30 points in 79 games last season, split between the Seattle Kraken and the New York Rangers.
Still, Wennberg brings that veteran presence that General Manager Mike Grier can use to help support Will Smith and, potentially, Macklin Celebrini this upcoming season. The center has 712 career games and 335 career points.
Wennberg is a defense first forward
Like many of the forwards that Grier has focused on in the past few offseasons, Wennberg is about taking care of business in his own end before scoring.
JFresh Hockey on Twitter called Wennberg a “defence-first playmaking centre.”
Alex Wennberg, signed 2x$5M by SJ, is a defence-first playmaking centre. Will presumably eat some deeply unpleasant minutes there. #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/E66xMsIChQ
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 1, 2024
Last season with the Rangers, Wennberg averaged 15:22 per game and played alongside players like Kaapo Kakko, Will Cuylle and Jonny Brodzinski. When he was with the Kraken, he averaged 18:49 per game and played with players like Jaden Schwartz, Andre Burakovsky, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Brandon Tanev.
Wennberg insurance for Logan Couture
While he could play a similar shutdown role with the Sharks, he also has the ability to move up in the lineup, something that could benefit the team if Logan Couture’s health is in doubt.
Wennberg logged over 1,000 minutes at even strength this past season, according to Evolving-Hockey, and played 137:30 on the power play. He was much more effective in all situations than most of the Sharks forwards. He will be an upgrade for the forward lines.
Conclusion
While GMMG may have overpaid slightly for the forward, it’s the price of doing business for a team that finished in the basement of the NHL last season. $5 million is a little high, but he stuck to his rules on term, and two years is a good-sized contract.
If things work out the way Grier hopes, Wennberg could be flipped at the deadline next season for a considerable return. At that point, San Jose will have a retention spot available because Brent Burns’ retention comes off the books at the end of this season.
