Connect with us

San Jose Sharks

Can Veronneau Help Sharks Next Year?

Published

on

Credit: NHL

Can Max Veronneau make it work this time in the NHL?

The San Jose Sharks announced the signing of the SHL MVP to a one-year contract today. The 26-year-old right winger led the league in goals (34) and was second with 60 points in 51 games.

This isn’t Veronneau’s first experience as a coveted free agent. Coming out Princeton, the Ontario native was signed by the Ottawa Senators at the end of the 2018-19 season. However, Veronneau failed to make a splash in his first go-around in North American hockey, scoring four points in 16 NHL games and 10 in 33 AHL appearances over two years.

Rasmus Kagstrom of Hockeysverige says Veronneau is a better player now though.

“He doesn’t cheat defensively and I wouldn’t say that he’s a bad player defensively, at least in the SHL,” Kagstrom told San Jose Hockey Now. “The NHL is another animal, though. I definitely think he could challenge for a spot [on the San Jose Sharks], but it will be as a bottom-6, I would imagine.”

On that score, it’s worth noting that Veronneau is also a regular penalty killer for Leksands IF. Kagstrom also pointed out that only five of Veronneau’s 34 goals have come on the power play – so he’s not just feasting off being a man up in an inferior (to the NHL) league.

“He’s not your typical one-dimensional forward that you sometimes will see in the European leagues,” Kagstrom noted.

Corey Pronman of The Athletic agreed, saying of Veronneau recently: “He always had good skating and skill, but his compete and all-around play were issues. I think those issues have made enough improvement.”

The San Jose Sharks sure hope so. At the moment, the competition next year for a top-nine role up front on the Sharks is wide open – so there’s space for Veronneau to be a pleasant surprise.

Welcome to your new home for San Jose Sharks breaking news, analysis and opinion. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and don't forget to subscribe to SJHN+ for all of our members-only content from Sheng Peng and the National Hockey Now network plus an ad-free browsing experience.

Sheng’s Travel Fund

Help fund Sheng's travel! Every dollar goes to the cost of getting to and from Sharks road games.


Click here to contribute to Sheng's travel pool!

Get SJHN in your inbox!

Enter your email address to get all of our articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Hockey Shots

Extra Hour Hockey Training

Cathy’s Power Skating

Sharks Team & Cap Info

SJHN on Facebook

All the San Jose Sharks news that's fit to print

Enter your email to get the best Sharks coverage delivered straight to your inbox.

Thank you for subscribing.

Something went wrong.