Injury situation is under review
G.M. Wilson says he’ ll soon know if any players need surgery
SAN JOSE — Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said Monday he’ll probably know in the next seven to 10 days whether any of his players will need offseason surgery.
Wilson said there was an extensive list of injured players at the end of the season and added that there are a “couple players that are seeing some doctors, getting some evaluations this week.” “We’re doing an extensive evaluation now and we’ll have a determination within the next week on a few players on whether or not they need surgery or if any treatment is needed,” Wilson said on a conference call with reporters. “Hopefully that isn’t the case and everybody will be ready come September. But I’ll get a better read on that in the next week to 10 days.”
Sharks forward Tomas Hertl suffered a right knee injury in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final after he absorbed a hit from Patric Hornqvist of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He finished that game but did not play the final four games of the series, which the Penguins won four games to two.
In speaking with reporters last week, Hertl did not think he would need surgery. He was fifth on the team with 46 points during the 2015-16 season and had 11 points in 20 playoff games before his injury.
Wilson said he’s n touched base with his team’s restricted free agents and will explore what he can do with the Sharks’ pending unrestricted free agents once the NHL sets its salary cap figure for the 2016-17 season this week.
The Sharks’ list of restricted free agents includes Hertl, Matt Nieto, Dylan DeMelo and Ryan Carpenter, who led the Barracuda this season with 55 points in 66 games. Unrestricted free agents include forwards Nick Spaling, Dainius Zubrus and Micheal Haley, defensemen Roman Polak and Matt Tennyson and goalies James Reimer and Aaron Dell.
The Sharks, according to figures on generalfanager. com, have 16 players on their main roster signed for next season at a cap hit of roughly $60.9 million. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said before the start of the Stanley Cup Final that he thought the cap for the 2016-17 season would climb about $2 million from the $71.4 million it was this season.
Wilson also said conversations about a new deal with defenseman Brent Burns, who is entering the final year of his five-year, $28.8 million contract, will take place shortly.
“You know how we feel about Brent. Phenomenal year,” Wilson said. “There’s no doubt he’s important to us. We want him and I think he loves being here.”
The Sharks acquired n prospect Maxim Letunov and a sixth round pick in the 2017 entry draft from the Arizona Coyotes for San Jose’s fourth round pick this year, No. 120 overall, and a third rounder in 2017. Letunov, a center listed at 6-foot-4 and 170 pounds, completed his freshman season at the University of Connecticut with 16 goals and a team-high 40 points in 36 games.
The Sharks’ home n opener for the 2016-17 regular season will be Oct. 12 against the Los Angeles Kings. The NHL will release its full schedule for the 2016-17 season Tuesday morning.