Sharks trade Noesen, acquire draft pick as part of three-team deal
Sharks general manager Doug Wilson on Sunday leveraged his team’s ample salary cap space to acquire another midround draft pick, and will likely explore more ways to do the same type of deal before Monday’s NHL trade deadline.
The Sharks acted as a third party in a trade between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Toronto Maple Leafs, netting a 2021 fourth-round selection as part of the transaction.
In one trade, Columbus sent forward Nick Foligno to San Jose, retaining 50 percent of what is remaining on Foligno’s $5.5 million salary for this season. The Sharks then sent Foligno and forward Stefan Noesen to the Maple Leafs for Toronto’s own fourth-round selection. Both Foligno and Noesen are pending unrestricted free agents.
The Sharks are retaining 25 percent of what was left on Foligno’s contract, or $1.375 million. Noesen was making $925,000 this season. Because of the Maple Leafs’ limited cap space, they needed a third team to absorb salary in order to acquire Foligno.
Additionally, Toronto sent its first-round selection in this year’s draft and a fourth-round selection in next year to Columbus.
Per Capfriendly, the Sharks now have just over $9 million in deadline cap space, enough to be a part of a equivalent type of deal before Monday’s deadline at noon.
Noesen, 28, split the season between the Sharks and Barracuda. Noesen played in five games for the Sharks this season, and had six points and 23 penalty minutes in 12 AHL games.
Like the Devan Dubnyk trade the day before, Sunday’s three-way deal wasn’t necessarily a high profile or sexy move for
San Jose.
But the Sharks now have eight picks in this year’s draft, including two in both the fourth and fifth rounds. Those assets could be used to bring in an Nhl-ready player in the offseason, or to help refill the organizational cupboards with more prospects. Wilson has said he is not trading his 2021 first round pick.
In trading Dubnyk to Colorado on Saturday, the Sharks received a 2021 fifth round draft pick and depth defenseman Greg Pateryn, who is also a pending UFA, from the Avalanche.
The Sharks still have an opportunity to recoup assets for other pending UFAS such as forwards Marcus Sorensen, Matt Nieto and Kurtis Gabriel. But there was no question that Wilson was going to explore opportunities to leverage their ample salary cap space.
Before Sunday’s trade, per Capfriendly, the Sharks had over $10 million in deadline cap space, and was easily a team that could act as a third party to a trade, retaining salary to help facilitate a trade between two other teams, in exchange for draft picks or prospects.
There are still several high salaried players that could be in demand by cap-strapped teams, including Buffalo Sabres winger Taylor Hall.
The New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers might be the among most interested suitors, but both teams, per CapFriendly, have $0 in deadline cap space at the moment and would need a third team to intervene. Hall’s salary this season carries an $8 million cap hit.
The Sharks enter Monday’s game with the Anaheim Ducks in sixth place in the West Division with 40 points, four points back of the St. Louis Blues for the fourth and final playoff spot.