NHL Teams Inquiring About Sharks' 3 Top Players

With the San Jose Sharks near the beginning of their rebuild and still a ways to go until they're competitive again, teams have started to become interested in their top players. It is no news that Erik Karlsson still has a lot of interest from teams around the league, but David Pagnotta noted that teams have talked to the Sharks about Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl.

Pagnotta adds that nothing is close and that they're just inquiries, but this means that the Sharks know there might be interest and other teams are looking at these two productive centers under contract for a number of years. Karlsson, Couture, and Hertl all make $8 million+ per season. While Karlsson and the Sharks are actively working together to find a suitable destination for him to be traded to since the defenseman has a full no-move clause, moving Couture and Hertl might not be as easy.

Couture is 34 years old and has four years left on his contract at $8 million AAV. He has a 3-team trade list, which could include teams that might not be able to afford him. While going through a rebuild, the Sharks could always accommodate the team they're trading Couture to by retaining half of the salary for a better asset in return. If the team considers trading him or a deal gets close, they must do better than the Ryan Johansen/Kevin Hayes trades recently pulled off by Nashville and Philadelphia. The Sharks are in no rush to just dump a contract while they still need to think about staying above the cap floor and surrounding their rookies with veterans.

Although Hertl might be of some interest to teams, the 29-year-old has seven full years left on his deal that also includes a full no-move clause. He isn't going anywhere if he doesn't want to. I expect the Sharks to have rebuilt within seven years, but you never know. It might be a conversation that comes up down the line, but not something to take seriously now.