Multiple members of the San Jose Sharks did not travel with the team for their road trip to Western Canada, officially ending their season with the organization. Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News reports that Kevin Labanc, Mike Hoffman, Filip Zadina, Alexander Barabanov, Jacob MacDonald, Jan Rutta and Mackenzie Blackwood will not suit up for the team’s final game against the Calgary Flames, and they may have played their last games in San Jose.
Of the seven players listed, four will go to unrestricted free agency, one will go to restricted free agency and two are signed into next year. Realistically, Labanc, Hoffman and Barabanov will all head toward greener pastures, while the team may opt to keep MacDonald as a depth piece for the 2024-25 NHL season.
Even though Zadina will become a potential non-tender candidate this offseason, he may not find any interest outside of the Bay Area. Producing moderately well with 13 goals and 23 points in 72 games for the Sharks this season, Zadina’s defensive metrics from this year may be too ghastly for other teams to overlook, indicating that if he does play outside of San Jose, it will likely be in the AHL.
After acquiring Devin Cooley and Vitek Vanecek at this year’s trade deadline, Blackwood could be an interesting trade candidate this summer. In 41 starts for the Sharks this season, Blackwood has produced a 10-25-4 record, with 24 of those measuring as Quality Starts, according to Hockey Reference. Certainly not playing himself into a starting role with his efforts this year, Blackwood could become a serviceable backup option for a contending team next year.
Nevertheless, it is not necessarily a negative that most of these players will be moving out of San Jose this offseason. With the Sharks hitting rock bottom over the past two years, it is now time to thin out a very saturated roster as much as possible to create space and playing time for San Jose’s up-and-coming prospects.
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