Sheng Peng
“That’s a good deal.”
That’s what one NHL scout shared about the San Jose Sharks’ acquisition of defenseman Christian Jaros.
It was a rare three-way trade: The Sharks sent defenseman Trevor Carrick to Anaheim for forward Jack Kopacka, then San Jose re-routed Kopacka and their 2022 seventh-round pick to Ottawa for the 24-year-old Jaros.
“Christian is a big right-shot defenseman who plays a physical game,” Doug Wilson said in a press release. “He is a young player with 76 games of NHL experience so far and has the ability to grow his game.”
For what it’s worth, an NHL scout outside of the Sharks organization agreed.
“I like him. I think he can be a good bottom-pairing guy,” Scout #1 offered. “Moves the puck well. Hard to play against. Good defensive tools. Not much offense but safer with the puck.”
Conceivably, the 6-foot-4 right-hander could form a reliable third-pairing with lefty Radim Simek.
At the very least, Jaros fills a need for the San Jose Sharks organization. During the off-season, San Jose Hockey Now surmised the Sharks could use an NHL-quality RHD:
The Senators’ 2015 fifth-round pick might be the answer, slotting after Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns, and ahead of Nicolas Meloche and Ryan Merkley.
That said, it’s not unanimous around the league that Jaros belongs in the NHL — it’s safe to say that the Jaros is still out on jury.
“He’s big, strong, and powerful. Can skate. Questionable hockey sense,” Scout #2 pointed out. “Think he has a chance to play with a change of scenery, but more depth for me from what I’ve seen.”
Jaros is a former prospect whose star has certainly diminished. Can the San Jose Sharks help him shine?
The Slovak participated in Ottawa’s training camp and was waived in mid-January. Before the trade, he was set to begin the season with the Belleville Senators.
Even though Scout #1 likes the player and the price, he was confused as to why the Sharks didn’t grab him for free before the season: “They really should have claimed him. Some teams like to let them clear, then make a trade to give a contract back to stay below the 50-contract maximum. Like a trade is almost better than getting him for free. But then they ended up having to give a draft pick too. In my opinion, they fucked up and thought what they had was better.
“They should’ve known that Middleton and Meloche weren’t good enough. Knyzhov was okay when I saw him.”
Puckpedia, however, offered another reason why San Jose might have held off on claiming Jaros: “If a team claims him, to get him to the minors or taxi squad, you need to put him on waivers again. If a team trades for him after he’s already cleared waivers, he’s then still waivers-exempt — until he plays 10 NHL games and is on the NHL roster for 30 days. If a team claimed him on waivers and then waived him themselves, Ottawa could claim him back.”
So is that roster flexibility worth a Sharks’ seventh-rounder?
Well, what’s done is done. Funny enough, per Ulvis Brože of Sportacentrs, Jaros spent his pre-training camp quarantine with housemate Rudolfs Balcers. Balcers, of course, was claimed on waivers by the Sharks two weeks ago.
So it looks like there will be an unexpected Belleville reunion in San Jose soon. Hopefully, Jaros and Balcers can help the Sharks more than they helped the Sens.