Chrona Likely To Sign With Sharks, Makiniemi Out Indefinitely With Lower-Body Injury

Check out my “Sharks Pregame Live” hit!

.@Sheng_Peng breaks down who the Sharks might look at as their goalie of the future pic.twitter.com/4tQU5W4MQe

— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) March 24, 2023

Sheng Peng: The San Jose Sharks need a goalie of the future.

It’s not likely to be James Reimer, who’s 35 and a UFA. It could be Kappo Kahkonen, 26, the only Sharks goalie signed beyond this season, but he’s really struggled this year.

Could it be Sharks goalie prospects Ben Gaudreau, Mason Beaupit, Eetu Makiniemi, Magnus Chrona, or Strauss Mann?

According to multiple NHL sources…maybe not.

The general consensus is Beaupit, Chrona, Gaudreau, Makiniemi, and Mann project, at best, as NHL back-ups right now.

2021 third-round pick Gaudreau is seen as probably the best goaltending prospect in the San Jose Sharks system.

Chrona won the national championship at Denver University last year, and a source told San Jose Hockey Now that the Sharks should sign him. He can be a free agent if he doesn’t sign with the Sharks by Aug. 15.

Makiniemi hasn’t played since Feb. 11, he’s out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. It’s the second straight season that he’s been felled by a major injury, only good news is this injury is unrelated to last year’s lower back problem.

Of course, it’s not easy to find a true-blue No. 1 goalie. There aren’t a lot of Andrei Vasilevskiys in the world.

But the San Jose Sharks aren’t likely to get out of their long playoff-less drought, four years and running, without solving this fundamental problem.