Sharks' Ferraro Linked To Eastern Conference Contender

The San Jose Sharks are one of the teams in the NHL that are clearly in a rebuilding phase, and it is only near the start. They will need time to collect more high draft picks by finishing low and trading off assets, and then let those players develop. As they are a long way off of competing, not many players are off the table in terms of trades.

One player in particular, defenseman Mario Ferraro, has been linked to the Toronto Maple Leafs by David Pagnotta, saying the team has shown interest in him. Since the Maple Leafs' back-end is thin with all of the injuries, Ferraro would be a great addition. He doesn't take up a ton of cap space ($3.25 million AAV), is still young (25), and has three years left on his deal. This would be somewhat like the acquisition of Jake McCabe last season.

Ferraro is a shot blocking machine, can log good minutes, and is very reliable for the Sharks. It would be a great move to bring in a player with some term left to solidify the back-end moving forward in Toronto. As for the Sharks, Ferraro's contract will be up well before they are ready to compete and they will likely lose him for nothing. Might as well maximize the return now.