Status Quo Between Hertl, Sharks With Trade Deadline a Week Away

It’s status quo between Tomas Hertl and the San Jose Sharks right now.

A week from the Trade Deadline, the impending UFA smiled, knowing what was coming from us, when we started to interrogate him about his contract situation.

“It’s probably the same as last week,” he said. “It’s just my agent talking to Joe Will. We will see.”

That’s roughly what he said two weeks ago in Las Vegas, when we last shook the tree.

Hertl Says Contract Talks With Sharks Are “Positive”

Hertl declined to say if there was an internal deadline to make a decision – if he doesn’t want to stay in San Jose, it’s likely he’ll give the Sharks some time to entertain trade offers before the Mar. 21 Trade Deadline – or if Will and his agent Craig Oster were close.

The usually talkative centerman was more forthcoming about his mental state over the last month.

“I’m probably lying if I say I was always fine,” he acknowledged. “Still, inside your head, anywhere you look, you read Twitter, you’re watching — especially my dad, he always watches NHL Network — your name’s here.

“It’s new for me because I was never in this position. It’s not always fun to look at what’s happening with your name.”

This is the 28-year-old’s first experience with unrestricted free agency, and really, being part of serious trade rumors of any sort.

“But it’s part of this journey of hockey. It happens. Guys get traded. End of the day, it’s business too,” he said. “When I’m with my little guy, I forget about everything. But you put him down, sometimes your head just goes cruising [about] what’s next because you don’t know.”

One thing that Tomas Hertl does know? And something that’s the San Jose Sharks are surely enticing him with?

“There’s a lot of good players here, and young guys coming, I don’t think they want to rebuild,” he said. “Especially our owner, Hasso, he wants to keep winning. Get on the winning track.”

Can the Sharks, heading for three straight seasons out of the playoffs, get back on the winning track soon? Safe to say, that’s more likely with Tomas Hertl than without.

Want to hear some Hertl trade proposals?

I went toe to toe with a couple NHL scouts + an exec + @TheDanKingerski (Pens) @MurphysLaw74 (Bruins) @GeorgeRichards (Panthers) @vzmercogliano (Rangers) here: https://t.co/DhHf0YNbZq

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 14, 2022