San Jose Sharks
Eklund Signs Extension With Sharks
The San Jose Sharks have extended William Eklund.
The three-year extension, which kicks off in 2026-27, has a $5.6 million AAV.
Today was the first day that the San Jose Sharks’ 2021 No. 7 pick was eligible for an extension. He will be an RFA after the 2028-29 season.
The bridge contract breaks down as $4.4 million in 2026-27 (with a $1 million signing bonus), $5.6 million in 2027-28, $5.8 million in 2028-29.
That’s in line with San Jose Hockey Now’s prediction for a William Eklund extension: “If Eklund and the Sharks discuss three or four-year extensions, over $5 million AAV seems like a realistic possibility.”
The 22-year-old winger had a breakout season, putting up a career-high 58 points in his second full NHL campaign. This bridge contract, coupled with a rising cap, sets Eklund up for a huge payday in a couple summers.
I know everyone will be mad it’s not an 8×8, but I’m guessing Eky wanted this for himself.
If GMMG was dead set on locking him up for 8 yrs, he easily could have waited till next summer and kept negotiating. Keeping him an RFA afterwards is great, and a subsequent 8 yr deal would lock him up until he’s 32. The price tag on this is surprisingly low, but again, I’m assuming Eky wants the security so he’s fine with it.
Good on GMMG for respecting his players.
I think it’s a realistic arrangement that offers both sides some room to consider future fit. The AAV is not bad given Eklund’s track record and importantly he gets to renegotiate with arb rights in a salary environment with higher cap. Grier gets a bit of flexibility if the time comes when he has too many skilled forwards but a shortage of defenseman of heavy wingers. A shorter contract is easier to move.
this gives him a little more trade value too because he’s under team control for a while with a nice number. Im starting to wonder if it’s even a good idea to put Askarov in next year. We are what we are and he’s going to be bombarded every night and it might not be the best thing psychologically for a young top prospect goalie to endure so much failure and uncontested high danger scoring chances night in and night out.
I think that’s why there is a lot of talk of shopping for a veteran capable of playing in a tandem with Askarov. But one reason Askarov wanted out of Nashville was that he had no path to being #1 on his team. I don’t know that he would want another season in the AHL. And at some point, you just have to let your future core take ownership of the team.
Even Perbix and Ceci are off the board now.
It’s definitely looking like any improvement will have to come from inside the system.
It can’t be easy luring free agents here when you are the worst team back to back years. Chicago is not getting much of anything either. Cap increase means there’s more room for desirable players to go to successful teams, and the effect is exacerbated because some of the most successful teams are also in states with no income tax.
I guess Sharks just have to keep an eye out for opportunistic adds and the future core will have to do the heavy lifting meanwhile.
Very salient point about the tax. It’s one thing to attract top players to a high tax state if you’re talking about signing with a top team. But signing to the worst team in the league two years running in a state with some of the highest taxes in the country is a pretty tough sell. I’m sure it’s a major factor in most top players’ no-trade clauses.
Tax is a non issue, drummed up by media who don’t understand how professional athletes are paid. Players are paid out per game, the 41 ( now 42) road games collect taxes based on the state law of the home team.
I just keep thinking about the islanders wanting Misa for Dobson which is out of the question but atleast they were in the phone. Mike maybe should have not let them hang up until we worked something out in the range of what the Habs offered value wise with maybe Musty and Eklund or something. Those defensman are so hard to come by and we have a log jam at forward.
Well, keep in mind Dobson was a RFA. Dobson signed a 8 year deal in Montreal so that deal made sense for the Habs. But if Dobson didn’t want to play here, he could have gone to arbitration, got a short deal, then walked in a couple of years. Dobson as an unwilling rental rather than long-term piece would be very different than what Montreal got.
I read something, maybe from Friedman, that Dobson wanted to be in the east.
The truth is a LOT of teams still have a lot of money to spend. Honestly, I’m surprised a lot of these contracts are so low. Kinda wondering if collusion talk isn’t going to creep in over the next few years, this is so bad.
But the players are signing quickly right now, so agent negligence is the more likely explanation on July 1.
The Gavrikov to New York thing feels like there had to have been tampering with so many rumors flying in advance. In the case of Vegas-Marner, Toronto actually did accuse Vegas of tampering but was bought off with Nicolas Roy in a sign-and-trade for Marner.
In addition, we are once again seeing no-tax states do very well.
I don’t know if it’s agent negligence. I think NHL players are just on the whole a group that prizes stability. They want long contracts and want to sign one ASAP. Everything else comes second.
I’m not so convinced of the no-tax stuff…look at the playoff teams last year. EDM, WPG, TOR, WSH, MTL, LAK, NJD…not low tax! That’s half the teams right there. And they aren’t bleeding talent. FLA did very well but why wouldn’t you want to run it back if the team chemistry is working?
As an aside, I hope agents are smart enough to explain types of tax to their clients…Dallas property tax is 4x that of Denver. But you wouldn’t gather that from the whole tax/no-tax debate.
My Dad moved from California to TX a few years ago and his prop taxes were about 2x that of California. Even with that increase he was still miles ahead financially when you consider California’s crazy high income taxes along with local sales taxes, gas taxes, and still-high-on-average prop taxes. If San Jose were a Cup contender then I suspect top talent would be more likely to sign a big juicy contract and deal with the crap taxes, and as you rightly point out, those high tax state teams are playoff teams. Not so for SJ. Combine the brutal California… Read more »
Please understand how players are taxed, it’s a silly non issue
Grandlund left no state tax TX for CA…
I meant that teams in no-tax states did very well in free agency this year.
I’m not saying you absolutely can’t win unless you are in a no income tax state. And it’s not a one-dimensional thing where players look at just that and nothing else. But I think players are pretty saavy now on how it affects their real pay. I think Mitch Marner knows that $12 mil per year in Nevada is more than $13mil per year in Ontario, Canada, it’s a negotiating advantage and a team-building advantage.
Listening nhl network on sirius/xm today..
Steve Kooleas said 12 million in Nevada is equilivent to 16 million in Toronto
At this point, I think GMMG is going to coax player MG out of retirement and sign himself to a 1 year, 18mil deal. He’ll be on IR the whole season. I’ve actually suggested something a bit more rational, that Sharks bring Pavelski out of retirement to be a ‘coach on the ice’ for Smith and Celebrini. Can pay his whatever he wants ($10mil?). The lone ‘catch’ is that if he wants to go for a Cup, the cap hit can’t be so big he can’t be moved. Obviously, Pavelski has to have the fire in his belly to do… Read more »
Let get Nabby back on the roster for a cool $20 mil. Who could object to that?
Me.
Nabby was King at giving up soft goals in playoffs
Klingberg?
Feels like a bloodbath.
Gaudette, Klingberg and Kurashev? Combined about $7mil. Gaudette for 2 yrs, the others for 1.
Meanwhile Perbix signs for under $3mil AAV in Nashville and Granlund does a 3x$7mil for the Ducks.
Honestly, whatever the plot is, I’m not following it.
Stay tuned…
Went to the prospect practice. Not a lot to glean, but a few quick observations. Ravensbergen seemed far too content with pucks getting behind him. I want goalies who hate it when a shot gets thru. Who battle til the end. Even in these contrived situations. he’s going to need some fire. Thought Matt Davis looked pretty good. He’s 24 and he looked more polished and confident. Kept a close eye on a few players. Predicting now that Pohlkamp is going to make it. Looks the part, has the hunger, has the shot. Just see the effort. He wants this.… Read more »
Yeah!! Stoked on Eklund. I hope his younger brother finds his way over to the Sharks as well
puckpedia has the Sharks with 11 forwards (not counting Couture, Gushchin or Bords)), 6 d-men (not counting Jack Thompson), 6 d-men and 2 goalies.
19 of 23 spots. puckpedia has them $9.5mil from the cap floor.
We’ll see how it goes forward, but its not looking like there will be many spots for guys like Chernyshov, Dickinson, Cagnoni, Lund, Thompson, Giles, et al.
The Sharks have said, without saying it, that if Dickinson doesn’t make the team he screwed up. I think he’s on the team. The other guys without spots can use some time in the minors. I’d like to see Giles in the bottom six, but he’ll need to displace Grundstrom in camp to do it, probably. Gaudette’s not a top line guy obviously, but this roster is a bit of a mess still, he might get some minor Cheechoo action hanging around with Celebrini and Smith? Gaudette?-Celebrini-Smith Eklund-Misa-Toffoli Graf-Wennberg-Giles Goodrow-Ostapchuk-Dellandrea Ferraro-Mukhamudullin Dickinson-Klingberg Desharnais-Thrun Askarov Nedeljkovic Kurashev and Liljegren in the… Read more »
Keep forgetting about Afanasyev