San Jose Sharks
BREAKING: Sharks Will Qualify RFA Gadjovich

San Jose Hockey Now has learned that the San Jose Sharks will qualify RFA forward Jonah Gadjovich.
This QO is a five percent increase on Gadjovich’s $832,500 base salary last year.
Gadjovich was a Vancouver Canucks’ 2017 second-round pick, who the San Jose Sharks picked up on waivers last October. The 6-foot-2 forward scored just one goal and two assists in 43 games last year but did provide a consistent physical presence.
This past summer, the 23-year-old was in the news for the wrong reasons, as a member of Canada’s 2018 World Juniors Championships-winning side that got embroiled in a sexual assault case still reverberating throughout Hockey Canada.
Jason Harshaw of Driven Sports Group, Gadjovich’s agent, was quick to disassociate the winger from the scandal: “The events described in the story are serious and reprehensible. Jonah was not involved in the incident and does not have any comment on legal proceedings and the settlement involving other parties.”
Agent: Gadjovich “Not Involved” in 2018 World Juniors Sexual Assault Scandal
The deadline to qualify RFAs is 2 PM PT today. SJHN has already learned that the San Jose Sharks will not qualify Jonathan Dahlen, Brinson Pasichnuk, and Zach Sawchenko.
CONFIRMED: Sharks Will Not Qualify RFAs Sawchenko, Pasichnuk
Sharks fans might be incensed that the organization has chosen to qualify Gadjovich instead of Dahlen, but it’s really comparing apples to oranges. Besides their very different roles on a team, Gadjovich doesn’t have arbitration rights, while Dahlen has arb rights. Had Dahlen gone to arbitration with the Sharks, there’s a good chance that he would’ve been awarded a decent amount more than Gadjovich’s near-minimum salary.
It’s also likely to be an award that the Sharks can’t just walk away from: Teams cannot renounce arbitration awards of less than $4,538,958 million dollars.
Here’s the full list of the RFAs that the Sharks qualified and didn’t qualify:
Per Sharks: RFAs Chmelevski, Ferraro, Gadjovich, Gregor, Kahkonen, Kunin were qualified.
Blichfeld, Dahlen, Gallant, McGrew, Meloche, Morand, Pasichnuk, Sawchenko were not. This group will become UFAs on Jul. 13
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) July 11, 2022