3 San Jose Sharks Who Will Be Traded Within The Year

The San Jose Sharks are still in a fairly tough position as they have some top-end talent on large contracts, but are trying to sell and get younger to properly rebuild. With the cap hardly increasing over the past few seasons, big contracts have become difficult to move and more are being bought out. As the Sharks see value in the players they could trade, moves will be coming, whether that is before the start of the season or by the trade deadline.

Erik Karlsson

The Erik Karlsson saga seems to be coming to a close soon. He will be someone who the Sharks trade before the start of the season as the race appears to be down to two teams, the Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins. Both see themselves as competitors and their windows won't stay open forever. The Penguins' time is running short as their elite veteran players have just a few seasons left. They missed the playoffs and are looking to rework their defense while the Hurricanes have made a lot of big and interesting signings to push to the Stanley Cup. While rebuilding, I believe the Sharks are going to ease up on how much cap they retain to get a deal done soon.

Anthony Duclair

The trade to acquire Anthony Duclair was more of a mystery on the side of San Jose than it was for the Florida Panthers. The Panthers needed cap space and even though Duclair is on a great contract, they wouldn't be able to retain him after 2023-24 anyways. The Sharks are rebuilding, but also didn't have to pay much at all to acquire this former 30-goal scorer. There's two options for the Sharks with Duclair. Either offer a longer term contract to the winger at an AAV that he can't resist and help pull the team out of the rebuild in a few years, or be moved at the trade deadline. I think the more likely choice is move him at 50% retained salary ($1.5 million) to a contender at the deadline and get a nice return to help them for the future.

Kevin Labanc

Kevin Labanc used to be looked at as a great supporting player for the forward group that could score and put up points. He took a very team-friendly bridge deal for one season before then being awarded with a bigger contract. As the Sharks sunk to the depths of the league, he has sunk with them and is a middle-six winger at best. He is going into the last year of his deal at $4.5 million and it is likely the Sharks will look to give him a change of scenery at the deadline if they can't move him before the season. He has some playoff experience and will definitely garner some interest if he has an alright start to the season.