Dahlen Wants To Come Back to Sharks

Free agent Jonathan Dahlen isn’t going anywhere.

“Jonathan Dahlen’s priority is to play for the San Jose Sharks in the No. 1 league in the world,” Claes Elefalk, Dahlen’s agent, told San Jose Hockey Now.

Elefalk says he’s seen this story before: Prominent Swedish player is hitting free agency – the 23-year-old Dahlen is set to become an RFA with arbitration rights this off-season. Free agent Swedish player is struggling in the NHL – the right winger has five goals in his last 40 games. Cue the speculation that he wants to return home.

“They’re just rumors,” Eleflak said.

In the previous two years, Dahlen piled up 148 points in just 96 Allsvenskan games for Timra IK. Timra IK is back up in the SHL, in large part because of Dahlen’s production in those seasons.

But that doesn’t mean Dahlen wants to go back, despite his recent scoring struggles and the occasional healthy scratch with the San Jose Sharks.

In all, it’s been in a promising rookie NHL campaign for the winger, who has 12 goals and 10 assists in 55 games. He’s also missed games because of COVID, a concussion, and two other unidentified upper-body injuries.

But there’s reason to believe that Dahlen can build on these numbers next year. Like this season, the San Jose Sharks look like they’ll have a lot of jobs up for grabs along the wings.

And according to his agent, Jonathan Dahlen wants one of those spots.