Sharks acquire Hill from Arizona
The San Jose Sharks took care of a major item on their offseason to-do list Saturday, acquiring goalie Adin Hill and a 2022 seventh-round draft pick from the Arizona Coyotes for goalie Josef Korenar and a 2022 second-round draft pick.
Hill, 25, had a 9-9-1 record with a .913 save percentage this past season for the Coyotes, who were looking to put themselves in a better position for next week’s expansion draft for the Seattle Kraken.
Hill, for his career, owns a 1921-4 record and .909 save percentage as he’s played parts of the last four seasons for the Coyotes, who drafted him in the third round in 2015.
“Adin is an extremely competitive and athletic goaltender and he has played a significant amount of professional hockey games despite being only 25 years old,” Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said in a statement. “We have been impressed with the trajectory of his play, particularly his ability to make saves in high-danger scoring opportunities. We look forward to having him in San Jose and being part of our goaltending unit.”
“Adin is an extremely competitive and athletic goaltender and he has played a significant amount of professional hockey games despite being only 25 years old.” — Sharks general manager Doug Wilson
Teams around the NHL were feeling some urgency in recent days to get assets for players they could not protect in the expansion draft.
Clubs had until Saturday afternoon to submit protected lists for the draft, for which they could either protect seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie, or eight skaters — regardless of position — and one goalie.
The Coyotes already have Darcy Kuemper under contract for next season at a $4.5 million cap hit. Hill is a pending restricted free agent.
Finding an upgrade in net was arguably the Sharks’ biggest offseason priority as their goaltending statistics in 2021 ranked among the worst in the NHL for a third straight year.
The combined save percentage for Martin Jones, Devan Dubnyk, Korenar, and Alexei Melnichuk this season was .891, tied for 30th in the NHL with New Jersey and only ahead of Philadelphia (.880). Fourteen of the 16 teams that qualified for the playoffs had a team save percentage above .900.