Sheng Peng
Alexander Barabanov could be headed for his big NHL payday.
It’s my understanding that San Jose Sharks interim GM Joe Will could be speaking with Barabanov’s camp as soon as this week about the pending UFA’s contract.
Barabanov, 27, has been a revelation since the Sharks acquired him from the Toronto Maple Leafs for Antti Suomela last Trade Deadline. The second-year winger has 46 points in 76 games in teal, including 39 points in 67 appearances this season.
The Sharks signed Barabanov for one year, $1 million dollars last off-season. When the Leafs plucked Barabanov from the KHL in Apr. 2020, they gave him a one-year, $925,000 two-way deal.
So what might Alexander Barabanov be looking for this time around? It might be less than you expect.
Last week, I looked at Barabanov contract comps at NBC Sports Bay Area:
Recent contracts given to Robby Fabbri, Pius Suter, Micheal Ferland, and Brett Connolly led me to project $3.3 to $4.125 million AAV for anywhere from two to four years.
However, it’s my understanding that Alexander Barabanov could actually come in at a little less than my projection, mainly because the KHL veteran has just under 100 NHL games under his belt. In my comps, only Suter had played less than 100 NHL games when signed, and his one-year, $3.2 million agreement with the Detroit Red Wings this past summer is regarded by some as an overpayment.
I’ve heard, for Barabanov, that two years at about $2.25 to $3 million AAV or three years at about $3.5 million AAV might be the ask. A one to three-year agreement seems most likely.
We’ll have a better idea after the Sharks and Barabanov talk.
Per Puckpedia – and assuming the San Jose Sharks deal one of their starting goalies not named Kaapo Kahkonen – the Sharks project to have about $12-15 million dollars in cap space right now to offer to UFAs Barabanov and Jaycob Megna, and RFAs Kahkonen, Mario Ferraro, Noah Gregor, and Jonathan Dahlen this off-season.