3 San Jose Sharks Named Prime Trade Candidates

The San Jose Sharks are expected to sell off a number of their veterans before the trade deadline and the chatter across the league has picked up in a major way of late. We've seen multiple moves by the Vancouver Canucks and the Sharks are a team many have circled on who could be making deals next.

Recently, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff named three Sharks within his top trade target board. They included Kevin Labanc, Anthony Duclair and Mike Hoffman. 

Hoffman leads the Sharks with six goals but has also only chipped in with two assists, through the teams first 22 games. Duclair has collected five points in 20 games and Labanc has been scratched numerous times to start the season and currently has two assists in 15 games.

There's no doubt GM Mike Grier will be selling low on all three forwards, however it's time to turn a new leaf in San Jose. All three forwards are pending unrestricted free agents and wouldn't be in the plans come next summer regardless.

Seravalli had this to say about Hoffman, who was the highest ranked Shark on his trade list:

The Sharks took on Hoffman’s contract as a salary cap dump in the Erik Karlsson trade (from Montreal) with the express intention of acquiring a flippable asset ahead of the March deadline. That’s worked out quite nicely to this point. Hoffman is scoring at a 23-goal pace over a full season on a Sharks roster without much support around him. That would be his best total since 2019-20 in Florida. By the time March rolls around, with the amount remaining on his deal, teams might not even need San Jose to retain salary to bring him in. Hoffman has limited playoff experience but he’s scored at a slightly better rate in the postseason than the regular season.

The Sharks are 5-16-2 on the season and sit dead last in the NHL.

Photo credit: Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports