The San Jose Sharks are going to struggle to move some of their pending free agents at the upcoming trade deadline. We already discussed a few players whose value has plummeted this season last week, and since then Sheng Peng of SJ Hockey Now confirmed that the Sharks have been open for business but have had no luck finding a trade partner. If they’re going to get stuck with players like Mike Hoffman and Kevin Labanc, they may have to make some unconventional moves and a player who may be attractive to other teams would be their third-line center, Nico Sturm.
Not a Pretty Player, But Effective
For those who are unfamiliar with Sturm, his numbers aren’t overly impressive. He doesn’t put up a lot of points, and he thrives in a third or fourth-line role. He’s not a player you can count on to score a goal in a big moment or make a fancy highlight reel play that stays in the back of fans’ heads forever. He’s a defensive center who knows his role and does a tremendous job at it. He’s a perfect penalty killer, and he’s an elite faceoff taker as well. When on the ice, you can depend on him to do his job effectively. He’s on a defensively bad team, they have a goal differential of minus-106 and although plus/minus isn’t the most reliable stat, the fact that he’s only a minus-12 under those circumstances is impressive in its own right.
Sturm’s contract is also very team-friendly, and he wouldn’t be a rental either. He has a cap hit of only $2 million for this season and next. He provides a level of flexibility that most options on the market won’t, and although the Sharks likely won’t be looking to trade him, he shouldn’t be overly expensive either. He’s made it clear that he hopes to stay in San Jose for the time being, but that may not mean much in the long run.
Winning History
Sturm is a player who fans won’t notice often, but that simply means he’s doing his job. He’s exactly the type of player most general managers are going to look to acquire for a deep playoff run as well. Being a defensively solid center who can win key faceoffs is valuable in its own right, but Sturm also brings something that can’t be taught, experience. He’s only 28 years old, but he’s currently with his third organization. He started with the Minnesota Wild and had two appearances in the playoffs with them, before he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche on March 16, 2022. With the Avalanche, he won the Stanley Cup for the first time in his career. While he wasn’t a major part of their success, he played in 13 games during the run and certainly helped out in some key situations.
The other thing that will certainly make Sturm a desirable asset for general managers is his selflessness. He knows that he’s never going to be a star player, and he embraces that fact. He wants to help his team win, and he’ll do that however he can when he’s on the ice. He has a winning mindset, and he has experience hoisting the Stanley Cup.
While fans may not be overly excited if they hear that their favorite team acquired Sturm in a trade, they’d certainly grow to appreciate what he brings to the lineup on a nightly basis. While he’s happy to stay in San Jose, and the Sharks would certainly be happy to keep him as well, they may need to get creative at the deadline to get some assets. If the right deal comes through, moving the German center may be necessary.
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