For Meier, pondering a new contract can be wearisome
Forward Timo Meier is adjusting to the challenges of playing through a contract year as some uncertainty surrounds his future with the Sharks.
Meier is in the final year of a four-year, $24 million contract he signed with San Jose in 2019 and he is slated to become a restricted free agent next summer. His next contract will almost certainly be longer and richer, as his present deal carries an average annual value of $6 million.
Meier said Friday there's been “nothing too crazy” in terms of progress on a new deal with the Sharks. Meier's agent, former Sharks forward Claude Lemeiux, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“It's obviously there, but I think if you want to be a good player in this league, you've got to be able to handle situations like that,” Meier said of playing through a contract year. “Definitely, it's on your mind, it's going to take a little bit of energy out of you, but you can't let it influence you too much.
“You go to work and then you've got to be the best player you can be. But, yeah, it's just part of the deal.”
With the Sharks presently out of a playoff spot and owners of a 7-12-3 record before Friday's game with the Los Angeles Kings, speculation
has also grown that Meier, 26, might become a prime target for other teams once the March 3 trade deadline nears.
“The focus right now for me is to play hard, play my best hockey,” Meier said. “Obviously, we're not winning a lot of hockey games. I'm trying to become better for the team and make sure we win.”
Meier is the Sharks' leader with 177 points over the past three-plus years since he signed his current contract. This season, after not scoring in his first nine games, Meier had 12 goals in his past 13 games before Friday, as he was tied for the league lead with 11 goals in November. STURM TALKS HIT: >> Nico Sturm isn't upset with Ryan Carpenter after a hit by the New York Rangers forward landed the Sharks winger on injured reserve last weekend.
Last Saturday, Sturm was carrying the puck inside the Sharks' zone in the first period when he was hit by Carpenter and went facefirst into the glass. Sturm clutched his helmet as he went down on the ice, then skated off and left for the Sharks' dressing room.
Sturm, who shoots lefthanded, said Friday that the way he had to twist his body to retrieve the puck along the right-side boards made it such that any contact from the side was going to leave him in a tough position.
“If the hit comes east to west, there's not really a way to protect yourself,” Sturm said. “Whereas if I was on the other side, I don't need to kind of reach all the way over and I can just pick up the puck, so I'm not naturally having my back turned.
“I don't even think it was a malicious hit or anything. It's tough to protect yourself in that situation.”
Sturm said Carpenter, who was assessed a twominute minor for boarding, reached out to him to ask if was OK.
Sturm, who is eligible to come off IR in time for Sunday's game with Vancouver, took part in Friday's morning skate.