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SPECULATION: Would Draisaitl Be Interested in Playing for Sharks?

Originally posted on San Jose Hockey Now | By Sheng Peng | Last updated 5/14/24

Leon Draisaitl…to the San Jose Sharks?

I’ll say flat out, that sounds like a real, real reach to me.

But when not only one, but two NHL insiders are speculating openly about it?

Well, it’s a fun off-season story, at least.

“Do you think Draisaitl would go to San Jose because their owner is German?” ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski asked on “The Jeff Marek Show”, at roughly the 28-minute mark today. “Have you ever heard that?”

“That’s kind of been whispered for a while,” Marek responded.

Wyshynski counted off the reasons why Draisaitl, a UFA after the 2024-25 season, could be interested in the San Jose Sharks besides their German owner Hasso Plattner: “Emerging market, great young players. They will obviously compensate him.”

“People have speculated on that now for at least a year, maybe longer,” Marek said.

So keep in mind, this is pure speculation.

Weird how me and Marek both heard Draisaitl and the Sharks through our travels through the back rooms where the 200 Hockey Men hang out… https://t.co/GxuBBgZPhT

— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) May 14, 2024

The 28-year-old superstar’s timeline doesn’t seem to match the rebuilding San Jose Sharks’, but there’s no doubt that the 2020 Hart Trophy winner, who’s topped both 40 goals and 100 points five times each, would be a dream addition to any team’s line-up.

And if Draisaitl wants to be, the centerman is almost certain to be a $100 million dollar man when he becomes a free agent in the summer of 2025, potentially just the third in the last decade, following teammate Connor McDavid in 2017, eight years for $100 million, and Nathan MacKinnon in 2022, eight years for $100.8 million.

Meanwhile, if Draisaitl’s Stanley Cup-minded Edmonton Oilers, down 2-1 to the Vancouver Canucks in their second-round series, lose, both Wyshynski and Marek believe a “most chaotic off-season” could be coming to Oil Country.

If that meant Edmonton trying to trade Draisaitl this summer — I’m honestly not sure why they would, win or lose in the playoffs — they would likely have many suitors, and rebuilding San Jose would probably be priced out of the bidding. The Sharks’ best hope for Draisaitl, if you could call such a longshot “hope”, would probably be via free agency.

That’s a lot of dots to connect to get Draisaitl to the San Jose Sharks, but it sounds like, until Edmonton or another team extends him, the rumor mill has already begun for 2025’s star free agent.

This article first appeared on San Jose Hockey Now and was syndicated with permission.

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