San Jose Sharks
UPDATED: Sharks Trade Burns to Canes
The San Jose Sharks and Carolina Hurricanes, reportedly, are close to a deal that would send Brent Burns to Carolina.
According to Elliotte Friedman and Pierre LeBrun, there are several players involved.
There's a few players involved in this Carolina-San Jose trade that's in the works, not just Burns https://t.co/WJlFtLiolg
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) July 13, 2022
Burns has three years left on his contract with an $8 million dollar AAV. He also has a three-team trade list which doesn’t include the Hurricanes, so this deal must be approved by Burns himself.
We’re still trying to track down the conditions of the pick.
The 37-year-old defenseman has been heavily involved in trade rumors since the end of the off-season. He’s still a highly productive all-situations player – he led San Jose Sharks defensemen with 54 points and topped the NHL in minutes played – and it made sense that he might want to chase a Stanley Cup elsewhere. The Sharks have missed the playoffs in three straight seasons.
Burns didn’t exactly throw cold water on the notion in his May exit interview, when asked directly about going to another team to chase the Cup: “It’s definitely tough when you lose three years, not making the playoffs. I think everybody feels that way, whether they’re young or older.
“At the end of the day, that’s what we all play for. I’ve been in the league long enough to know that, when you’re doing these meetings at this time, there’s a lot of changes that happen, that need to happen.
“A lot of changes are going to happen here. When you’re looking for a new general manager, there’s a lot of things on the table. So I don’t know.”
Burns on What Boughner Did Right, If He Wants to Chase Cup Elsewhere
New San Jose GM Mike Grier said last week that it was up to Burns if he wanted to stay or go: “He’s been here a long time. He’s been a great Sharks player. I’ll let him kind of lead the way a little bit on that, go off his lead.
“As a former player myself, as you get older, you want to keep that competitive fire burning. And what keeps that burning is the chase for the Cup and winning.
“Depending on the conversation, if it is something where he says he wants to go somewhere and try and win, I get it.
“We all play to win. We all play to lift that trophy. As you get older, you start to see the end of the line. I would understand if that’s the route he wants to go.”
Trade Burns? New Sharks GM Grier Doesn’t Shut Down Speculation
Burns, if he agrees to leave the San Jose Sharks, would depart as the franchise’s highest-scoring defenseman with 594 points from 2012 to 2022. He won the Norris Trophy in 2017, was a finalist in 2016 and 2019, and became one of the most popular and recognizable players in the NHL while in San Jose.
Trading Burns would create a lot of cap flexibility but also leave a huge hole on the Sharks’ blueline and in fans’ hearts.
Burns is represented by agent Ron Salcer.
More on this story as it develops.