New Sharks GM will face 3 big contract decisions in offseason
The Sharks are still in the early stages of their search for a new general manager. Although no firm timeline has been established, it likely will not be a short process.
Team president Jonathan Becher said Tuesday that the Sharks have whittled down their initial long list of about 50 names to a number that will allow them to start interviewing candidates by early next month in two, three or four different waves.
Whoever the next general manager is will likely be involved in important personnel decisions right away, namely as it relates to player contracts.
Here are three contract decisions the Sharks might have to think about this offseason.
EXTEND MEIER? >> Forward Timo Meier has been the Sharks' best player this season and has one more year left on the four-year, $24 million deal he signed in July 2019. He is due to make $10 million in salary next season and will be owed that much in a qualifying offer in 2023-24 if the Sharks hope to retain his negotiation rights.
A one-year, $10 million deal in 2023-24 that walks Meier right to unrestricted free agency might not be the direction the Sharks want to take.
A long-term extension for Meier this summer would certainly solve that issue, although such a deal would take another sizeable chunk out of the Sharks' available salary-cap space. The average annual value of Tomas Hertl's eight-year contract is $8.1375 million, and Meier could also warrant something in that neighborhood, especially if he has another 30-35 goal season next year.
The cap is scheduled to only go up another $1 million
for the 2023-24 season, which could require some financial gymnastics for the Sharks if the AAV of a Meier extension comes in around $7-8 million. But that might be the cost of doing business to hold onto the only elite goal-scoring winger on the roster. LONG-TERM OR BRIDGE DEAL FOR FERRARO? >> Since he turned pro in 2019, energetic defenseman Mario Ferraro has shown his value to the Sharks in more ways than one.
Not only has Ferraro evolved into a top-four defenseman the past two seasons, but he's also become a leader, able to connect with veterans and young guys alike. When he was out of the lineup this season due to injury or a positive COVID-19 test, his vocal
presence in the locker was missed.
Ferraro, 23, has 14 points in 61 games but was averaging 22:58 of ice time per night. Ferraro and Brent Burns also both had 148 blocked shots before and were the team leaders in short-handed time on ice.
Now that his entry-level contract is ending, the Sharks might have a decision to make whether they want to give Ferraro a deal in the six-to-eight-year range or a two-to-three-year pact.
The Sharks under former GM Doug Wilson favored bridge deals when key players' entry-level contracts had expired. A longterm pact, though, would provide some cost certainty to the Sharks for years to come, and perhaps turn into a value deal as Ferraro enters the prime of his career. BUY OUT VLASIC? >> Whether to buy out the final four years of defenseman MarcEdouard Vlasic's eightyear, $56 million contract could be the biggest financial decision Sharks management has to make this
offseason.
For the next four years, Vlasic, 35, per CapFriendly, will be owed $27 million in salary. A buyout this summer would save the Sharks about $8.87 million under the cap for the next two seasons, but only $4.62 million in 2024-25 and 2025-26.
Combined with Martin Jones' buyout from last year, the dead money the Sharks would then be keeping on their books would be $6.1 million next season, $4.35 million in 2023-24, $5.85 million in 2024-25, and $6.85 million in 2025-26, when the cap is expected to rise by a significant amount. The Sharks' dead money would be about $3.3 million in 2026-27 before Jones' contract comes off the books.
Vlasic is averaging 15:13 of ice time per game as he's been on the Sharks' third defense pair for most of the season. He was a healthy scratch on Jan. 4, but coach Bob Boughner has felt that Vlasic's play improved in the second half of the season.