Sharks Open For Business, Including Top Defenseman

The San Jose Sharks are near the beginning of their rebuild and have to act accordingly. Any player that likely won't be around to see the come out of it should be an option to be traded, and it seems like they are. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported that the Sharks are wide open for business, excluding a couple of young players. He said that the team is listening on everyone including the likes of Mario Ferraro, the Sharks' top defenseman.

Ferraro has been counted on a ton this season and the 25-year-old is really showing his worth. At his age, you have to think that there is a lot more to give on top of what he is already showing on this bottom-feeder. He is the only Sharks' defender that is averaging over 20 minutes of ice time per game, and he sits at 22:48.

Ferraro is already in his fifth season in the NHL and has 301 games of experience under his belt at this age. He is very clearly a top-four defenseman capable of more in the future. His contract expires at the end of 2026 and he becomes a UFA at that time. That is lots of time for a contender to take full advantage of this player who only has a cap hit of $3.25 million AAV over that span.

It will cost at least a first-round pick to take Ferraro from the Sharks, and taking into account the great contract and term, at least a solid prospect and potentially another mid-round pick. It seems like the Sharks are interested in getting as much draft capital and young players as possible so the rebuild isn't as long and painful.