Sharks Trade Rumors: 4 Teams Linked to Barabanov

The San Jose Sharks have the For Sale sign out as we get closer to the March 8th trade deadline. There are several players that are prime trade candidates. In fact, for Saturday night's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, there are no less than six other teams with scouts in attendance.

For those curious, scouts from Chicago, Edmonton, Nashville, Tampa Bay, Winnipeg, the New York Rangers (and the Blue Jackets) are credentialed for tonight's game #SJSharks
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) February 17, 2024

In alphabetical order, the Chicago, Blackhawks, the Edmonton Oilers, the New York Rangers, the Nashville Predators, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Winnipeg Jets will all have eyes on several Sharks trade candidates (and, presumably, those of the Jackets as well).

And a couple of those teams will be watching one player in particular in pending unrestricted free agent Alexander Barabanov. His 2-year, $2.5 million AAV contract comes to an end after the season. That cap hit should be doable for most interested contenders.

According to the insiders at The Fourth Period, the following four teams are linked to Barabanov:

Edmonton Oilers
Colorado Avalanche
Florida Panthers
Tampa Bay Lightning

As for the Bolts, the newest team to be tied to Barabanov interest, they now have the cap space to make at least a couple of moves, with Mikhail Sergachev on LTIR for the rest of the regular season.

A change of scenery, joining a contender like one of the above, could do wonders for the 29-year-old Barabanov, who is having a down season in San Jose with only three goals and nine points in 33 games thus far. He has been plagued by injuries as well, but is healthy now.

Barabanov has already shown himself to be a capable middle-six winger the previous couple of years, and it's even still possible that the Sharks could try to re-sign him this summer if they don't get an offer to their liking in the next couple of weeks.

Photo: James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports