Report: Sharks to re-sign Luke Kunin to one-year, $2.75M contract

Kunin was going to be a restricted free agent on July 1, but general manager Mike Grier made it known that the team was in contract negotiations with the 26-year-old. Kunin was projected to have a qualifying offer of $3 million.

The Chesterfield, Missouri native has spent the last two seasons with the Sharks after being traded by the Nashville Predators at the 2022 NHL Draft. His production has been down in recent years following his 31-point campaign during the 2019-20 season with the Minnesota Wild. Granted, he missed the latter half of the 2022-23 season, during which he had surgery to repair a torn ACL.

In 77 appearances during the 2023-24 season, Kunin scored 11 goals and 18 points on a San Jose team that finished last in the NHL.

Kunin was taken 15th overall by the Wild in the 2016 NHL Draft. Since then, he has played 359 games, scoring 62 goals and 62 assists, including five points in 14 playoff games with the Wild and Predators. Injuries have plagued him throughout his career, as he also missed a considerable amount of time during the 2018-19 campaign in Minnesota.

Kunin made a name for himself in the college ranks, making an immediate impact with the Wisconsin Badgers. He captained the team as a sophomore, scoring 38 points in the 2016-17 season, and was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team.

If the signing occurs, the Sharks will have 33 players on standard player contracts for the 2024-25 season. According to CapFriendly, San Jose would have less than $28 million in projected cap space for next year.