San Jose’s Cap Space BONANZA Sparks Free Agent Frenzy | Can They Upgrade Their Middle Six?

San Jose’s Cap Space BONANZA Sparks Free Agent Frenzy | Can They Upgrade Their Middle Six?

We look at more free agent forwards to help fill out the Sharks roster. You’re Locked on Sharks, your daily podcast on the San Jose Sharks, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Hello, welcome to Locked On Sharks, the premier hockey podcast covering your favorite team in the Bay Area. My name is JD Young, caretaker at the Reef, also the co-host of Locked On NHL. I want to thank you for making Lockdown Sharks your first or second listen of the day. Uh, proudly part of the Lockdown Network. We cover your team every day. And if you want to be an everyday, all you have to do is just follow wherever you get podcasts or you can watch on YouTube as well. And today we’re going to be looking at three potential free agency options for the Sharks as again they need to find some more help in the forward department. Uh we’re going to look at Trent Frederick, Christian D’vorak, and Jack Roselvic. All kind of those middle class uh forwards who pro aren’t going to break the bank but help the Sharks potentially this year. So, um, as we again go through all this, I going to say the line. JD, um, the Sharks have $40 million in cap space, about $20 million that they need to spend to comfortably hit uh, the cap floor. Um, and Will Smith has really nobody on his wing at the moment right now if you uh, project him to be the second line center. So, I’m again, we’ve looked at some of the big guys, the big names. Now we’re looking at kind of more of that middle class type of players. And uh let’s start with Trent Frederick. So Frederick uh 6’3, 221 lb center. Uh has played center, has played wing as well. Um former first round pick in the 26 NHL draft by the Boston Bruins. If that pick sounds a little familiar to you, uh that was the pick the Sharks sent to the Bruins to get Martin Jones as part of that three team kind of the the Kings didn’t want to trade directly with the uh Sharks. So, we did the weird three team workaround thing. But anyway, so Trent Frederick is the byproduct of that pick. That was the pick the Sharks sent to um the Bruins uh to get Martin Jones. That first round pick turned out to be for Trent Frederick. Um he has played uh seven years in the NHL, is currently with the Edmonton Oilers and their uh championship run here, potential run um as a you know part of that trade as he was a trade deadline acquisition by Edmonton uh as an expiring contract. So again making him a free agent. Uh in seven years he’s played 338 games, has 55 goals, 54 assists with 109 points. Um and never really kind of feels like he kind of panned out for for the Bruins. So, uh let’s dig into him a little bit more here. Um this season, um last year of his deal at two years at $2.3 million. Uh he’s played 58 games in total, eight goals, seven assists, 78 shots on goal, playing 1343 average time on ice. Corsy for when he’s on the ice, the uh this is a combo of the Oilers uh Bruins. Uh 47.85% of the shot attempts. Uh goals for 38.78% of the goals when he was on the ice. Um, now the prettiest of numbers, uh, kind of playing between second and third line minutes for Frederick as 16th percentile player, 27th percentile offensively, 44th percentile defensively. Not much on the P like he plays kind of second unit power play minutes, second unit shorthanded minutes. Um, so again, not like not not really getting a lot of opportunity slash ice time. was also hurt this year, which does uh lead to why he only played 58 games. Um he’s a player whose projected war over the last three seasons has gone down. Uh 22 23 season where it probably arguably had uh one of his best seasons. Uh between that one and the 23-24 season were easily’s two best seasons. Um but this season definitely kind of fell apart. So 75 percentile player in 22 23 23 24 was a 50 this year right around 25. So it kind of all averages up to 56% uh war player. So offense he’s been able to drive offense but maybe not score as much as you’d like. But he has faced easy competition and maybe not the best teammates as you would expect kind of playing with his where he has been playing at. So but the potential offense is there with him. So, uh, that’s I think what you’re kind of hoping for. Um, his usage chart kind of he low, like I said, low quality of competition, uh, but does get a lot of offensive zone starts as well. Like he is definitely kind of more of a, you know, utiliz kind of six roll minutes. So, um, so before we get to the contract, uh, really quick, where would he fit, right? And I I think for Frederick, there’s a potential of him maybe, again, like he’s a guy just hasn’t played like a lot. And that’s the question is kind of a chicken and egg question, right? Is he not playing a lot of minutes because of the teams that he’s on, right? you look at like the Boston teams that he was on where they have just kind of bigger names that that he that always are going to garner especially over the past couple seasons. Um you know with Pasta and Marshand and you know the the great Boston teams and he just kind of knocked him down lower. Um and then looking at Edmonton right like that is a very deep team where he’s playing fourthline kind of minutes for for Edmonton. um even in in the playoffs here, you know, he’s played 16 games in the playoffs, is averaging 11 minutes a night on this Edmonton team. Um and you know, he’s got four points in those 16 games, but still like it’s he’s not being asked to do a lot. So, is this a byproduct of him just kind of accepting a role or is he just not been able to earn those type of minutes? It’s probably more of he’s just been able to not kind of earn those minutes because of who he is and the players in front of him. But there might be some again there might be might be very much emphasized might be uh some meat on the bone there when it especially when it comes to the offensive zone, right? big guys 6 foot three 220 pounds like get to the front of the net and especially if you’re playing with some smaller players like a Will Smith or you know William Ecklland or whomever else that you want to throw out there with with some of the Sharks forwards. Um like Frederick might have a chance to thrive or at least see some more offensive production because of just given more of an opportunity, right? If you’re instead of playing 13 minutes a night, what if he’s playing 16 or 17 minutes at night, right? With maybe better players, what happens there? I think that’s going to be the big question for any potential team that does want to sign him is like what’s your role going to be? And I still think he’s probably more of a middle six type of guy, right? I don’t think he’s anywhere near a first line. And probably on a good team, he’s more of a or I mean on a good team right now, you see he’s a fourthline type of player. But on a team like the Sharks where you there’s plenty of opportunities, especially in that middle six, right? You you feel like it’s Will Smith at at the 2C right now and probably Alex Wenberg at the 3C or maybe like Wenberg’s in there somewhere, but everything else and Colin Graph is in there. But there’s still plenty of of opportunities available for the Sharks to give guys like Trent Frederick a potential run uh to to see if you can be, you know, what happens if you get earn more minutes on a team like the Sharks and potentially could find some untapped uh offense there. So, what does the contract look like? of Pervolving Hockey. Um they have him projected to most likely sign a three-year deal at $2.79 million uh with a 33% likelihood. Um you’re the next two ones are a 23% likelyhood deal that he signs a one-year deal at like 1.7 uh and then a 2-year deal at like 2.4. So none of these are like break the bank and especially like with three years for a guy who’s you know 27 right now like I feel like this is a that would be a fair opportunity for him to again maybe you come in uh type of thing um and and give an opportunity to to him and play him in the middle six role and maybe he eventually just kind of settles in as your 3C um until guys like Philip Beaststead or whomever else uh are ready to kind of take on that role and then you move to the wing right now to to help support a guy like Will Smith. But like, you know, like it wouldn’t be my the the my favorite potential move, but I did want to at least discuss what Trent Frederick would bring to the San Jose Sharks if you because he, you know, it would make some sense. But I also kind of feel like maybe Trent Frederick is just kind of who Trent Frederick is right now and is probably on a really good team. what we see from Trent Frederick, which is kind of like a fourthline role for him. So, um it’ll be interesting to see. I’m really Trent Frederick’s one of those guys I’m really interested to see kind of how his free agency goes. So, anyway, um we’re going to be talking about Christian D’vorak, another potential stabilizing third line type of player uh here and if uh you know, he could potentially again add some offense. So, uh we’ll get to that in just one second. Looking for a snack that’s both delicious and nutritious? Crack into a good source of protein with wonderful pistachios. Wonderful pistachio is one of the highest protein nuts. Each 1 oz serving as six grams of protein, giving you over 10% of your daily value. Plus, they’re packed with fiber and better for you unsaturated fats to help keep you feeling fuller longer. Personally, I like the inshell variety. I like hearing that little crack. Uh it’s like a snack meditation. Um but if you like the no shell, I’m not going to shell shame you. Um, they plenty of different options for everybody. Uh, plenty of great flavors to choose from. I’m pretty basic. I just like them plain salted. Uh, but they have plenty of great uh great choices for you. Uh, each one all providing nine essential amino acids as well. So, get snacking and get cracking with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit wonderfulpaches.com to learn more. All right, before we continue with Christian D’vor, do of course want to thank you for making Locked on Sharks your first listen. If you haven’t yet, perfect time to subscribe as we’ll get you caught up with all the rumors as we’re of course now in uh you know, rumor mill season uh and get you ready for the draft and free agency like we’re doing right now. Uh so make sure you follow along wherever you get podcast and of course you can watch on YouTube as well. All right, Christian D’vorak. Uh interesting player because actually I think if you check the archives way back in the day when we first started this show uh I believe we talked about Christian D’vorak as a potential trade option way way way back in the day. But Christian D’vorak, former second round pick of the Arizona Coyotes, now of course uh the Utah Mammoth. Um second round pick back in 2014, played with the London Knights. um was uh eventually uh made his way to Montreal when he got traded for a first round pick in the 2022 draft and a second round pick in the 2024 draft. I feel like the Coyotes uh won that trade. It’s just the way D’Vor has kind of panned out. So, uh, D’Vor has played nine seasons in the NHL, 534 games. Uh, 105 goals, 144 assists, so 249 points during that time. Um, mostly with the kind of pretty split actually. It’s been, uh, 5 years with Arizona, four years with with Montreal. Uh, so let’s dig into D’vorak here uh, a little bit more. So, uh, he’s coming off a six-year deal at $4.45 million. um 82 games this year with Montreal, 12 goals, 21 assist, 104 shots on goal, averaging 1515 a night. Uh 45.60% Corsy 4, 44.16 goals for for D’vorak. Um look at his evolving hockey card kind of in the same you more usage than Frederick, but kind of a little bit more uh a little bit more to kind of glean from here. Um he 36th percentile player again that kind of second third line even strength minutes 29th percentile offense uh 55th percentile defensively didn’t get much power play run uh but played a ton of ton of shorthanded and was pretty solid at it as well. So again the sharks who desperately need to as well fix their uh their PK unit would definitely help in that area. um 4% war player over the past three years, but but but it’s been getting better. Uh so he was like way way down there uh the 22 23 season, but the last two have seen some a little bit of a rise of last this last year the 25 percentile range. Um again, not much on the power play. He’s been playing against kind of low-end competition. has also been playing with not the greatest teammates as well. Um, so when looking at his his war here, uh, Yus’ chart, uh, average top six shutdown forward again, not given a lot of offensive opportunities, has been solid defensively to help kind of shut things down against some of the opponents that he’s faced. Um, so Christian D’vorak, uh, what where he would fit in with the Sharks and kind of like the Trent Frederick thing as well of he’s going to play potentially, you know, kind of middle six here for you and most likely on the third line is mostly, you know, has been a a 3C for you. And again, the Sharks do have a lot of opportunities there. Um, if you’re a team like the San Jose Sharks who do need to again also look at filling out uh your your PK unit because you traded away all your good PKers last year, you know, um, Mikuel Granlin, you know, Luke Cunnin who you can debate if he’s a good PK or not, but still was a body on the PK, right? And um, I don’t maybe we see Mlin Cabbrini start to play PK units. like I don’t think Will Smith’s going to be a PKer, you know, Ekllin’s I think a good pKer, but like just having more opportunities and more guys there. Um, and I think D’vorick could do that. So, and he’s a guy over the past two seasons who I think has been playing some better hockey. Um, yes, last season he only played 30 games because of an injury. Uh, so he had nine points in those 30 games, but the year before like he had 10 goals, 18 assists for 28 points. this year, like I said, 12 goals. He’s a guy you’re you’re going to get when healthy, you’re going to get double digit goals, and you’re going to get about, you know, 30 to 40 points from him in a season. So, which is not like, right, 40 points for the Sharks last year is like one of their top point scorers. Like that is that is nothing to kind of sneeze at uh from from a perspective like the for a team like the Sharks, right? if you can kind of pencil in 40 points. Uh 40 points last year would have been sixth on the team behind uh Muel Granland and Fabian Zetterland. Like that’s where he would have penciled in right between those guys. Like so like 40 points on this Sharks team. You’re you’re you’re definitely taking that. That’s more than Alex Weenberg had last year um for example. So again, like if if he’s in that range, that’s kind of what what you would expect from him is I think kind of similar production to Alex Winberg. And again, the Sharks just need more NHL players. Um a D’vor contract, he is projected to sign a 4-year deal at $4.237 million with a 33% likelihood. So um the next most would be a one-year deal at like little under two. Um, and then you’re looking at like a five-year deal, which uh I will pass on that. Thank you very much. Um, and then, you know, there’s a two-year deal at three, a three-year deal at like 3.8. So, most likely a four, we’ll just say kind of four years at $4.2 million. So, um, and kind of the same thing as Trent Frederick, where he’s most likely going to be your 3C of the immediate future until you feel like a guy like Beastad or whomever else is your kind of long-term 3C is ready to take that role and then I think he could potentially kind of slide to the wing and again be a really nice kind of help shut down um, unit type of player. So, um, yeah, like none these Frederick and D’vor, I don’t think are the sexiest of names here. Um, but they would help fill a role with the Sharks need, right? That is just like some stabilizing players on the third line. And that way you’re not having to get like Barkley Goodros of the world to go out there and and be, you know, kind of playing more minutes than I think you want to maybe see Barkley Goodro play, right? and especially with all the pieces that you’ve moved off from over the past couple years. Um, just getting some some quality NHL players or at least NHL players in there. I think that’s what kind of Christian D’vorak’s role would be for San Jose. So, um, I think if you can get him if you can get him under four years, I think what you’re you’re probably feeling good. like that threeyear range would probably be the max I’d want to go for him as you’re looking again you’re you’re thinking long term and where some of your uh up and cominging pieces fit in. I think D’Vorah could be a nice kind of bridge middle third line and then if you maybe play him on the second line occasionally here and there as a wing. Um I think that’s where he would would would most likely kind of fit in. So uh we’re going to talk about a another guy who has some more scoring pop here. uh and Jack Brazilic and see if uh he’s a one hit wonder or maybe the Kings uh untapped something here. So, we’ll get to that just one second. All right, before we finish up, do want to of course thank you for making Lockdown Sharks your first listen today or maybe second lesson. Uh if you haven’t yet, go check out the lockdown NHL game night every game, every night until the Stanley Cup champion is crowned. Get local analysis on a national scale. Find NHL Game Night on Locked on NHL on YouTube, wherever you listen to podcast. All right, let’s finish up here by looking at Jack Roselvic. Uh so Rosik is a uh former first round pick of the Winnipeg Jets. Uh where he in the 2015 draft uh played with the Jets, played with the Blue Jackets, a little bit of time with the Rangers, and then this year spent uh was with the Carolina Hurricanes. uh nine seasons he’s played 526 games. Uh 102 goals, 158 assists with 260 points in that time. Um most of the time kind of split between the uh Jackets and the Jets. Uh actually most of the games uh with the kind of half his games basically as a Blue Jacket. U 146 points in 246 games with the Blue Jackets while playing like 1550 a night. So, not too too bad production there. So, um this season with the uh Hurricanes. So, uh he scored he played 81 games, had 22 goals, 17 assists, 139 shots on goal, playing a little under 14 minutes a night. Um 57.55% Corsy 4 and then 45.54% to goals four. Uh he is in was on a one-year deal at $2.8 8 million. Um, and you know, at 6’1, 198 pounds, not the biggest suit, but not the smallest, like kind of in that I guess average height, weight, whatever you want. I think fits, I think, still what Micro is looking for. So, um, looking at his evolving hockey card this year, 30th percentile player, kind of playing the same role as what we saw from at least the same minutes as we saw from the other two candidates. um 61 percentile offensively, eighth percentile defensively. Um didn’t get a ton like kind of got second unit uh play on the power play. Not going to help you shorthand it at all, but uh a guy who can definitely find the back of the net for you. And I think this year we definitely saw that for him. Um 31th percentile war player this uh over the past three years, but the past two seasons have really seen that jump. So, um 25 percentile war last year, this year over 50 percentile war. Um scoring, getting first assists, uh doing a great job there. Um played against kind of solid competition and had solid teammates as well um next to him. So, um was used as an average top six-way forward for the Hurricanes this year. So, he saw, you know, lower offensive or kind of lower or I guess average quality of competition, but did see more offensive zones, uh, which you would expect with the Hurricanes who lead, you know, they want to shoot the puck, they want to keep the puck, etc., etc. So, um, for Rosik, I think of the three players, he’s the one who would provide maybe the most scoring impact as a guy who has been able to score in the past. So, he scored 22 goals this year. He had 22 goals in the 21-22 season um with the Blue Jackets. um the last like I know he he got traded and stuff and and um 23 24 so maybe you know kind of dealt with a little bit of that but um you know I think for him he’s probably like a 15 to 20 goal scorer for for for San Jose and would definitely help out with the power play and just give you more power play options there because uh again we’re we’re just trying to find some more players to help score. Um but um you know the usage with the Carolina I think he definitely outperformed right if you’re only playing you know less than 14 minutes a night and you’re scoring 22 goals. Um but we have seen him be a little you know play more minutes with Columbus a couple years ago where he you know he had two seasons where he’s averaging over 16 minutes a night. One season he almost touched 17 minutes a night. So, probably more like a 15-minute a night type of player for for San Jose, which really aligns in that kind of second, third line role for for him um at even strength. So, um contractwise, uh he is projected to sign a three-year deal at $4.056 million, 26 percentile, or a uh four-year deal at like $4.5 million. So those are the two most likely options for him uh for for Rosik. So little bit like it would be interesting with him because um you know he is 28 um right and like he just turned 28 uh beginning of the uh in January. So beginning of the year here um so you would be looking at a player kind of signed through his age 32 season, right? Um, I I still think it kind of fits that timeline of of being a maybe not as utility as some of the other guys, but a guy who I think can pro help provide and drive offense for you. Um, you do wonder again like how much of it is based on playing with Carolina who’s um they have a system, right? um they have a philosophy, we’re going to shoot, we’re gonna shoot, we’re going to shoot. Play kind of straight ahead hockey and Roswell seem to thrive in that role. With the Sharks, I think you’re you would be playing with a little bit more, you know, guys like Will Smith and and Celebrity um in their game. But there is, you know, I I do think you want to see that kind of Mike Greer, we’re going to play fast, we’re going to play hard um mentality. I I do think there is a potential fit there of what the Sharks want to be and I think Rosc could be one of those players kind of fit into what um I do think the Sharks want to be out of the three he’s the one I would be most willing to to sign I think because um I think he does fit a lot of the other guys I it would easily fit a role of like being a third line center um and then gives you some flexibility with Wenberg with what you want to do with him. Um, Rosik does provide some offense, right? And for a team like the Sharks who they need to score more goals. Um, and they need to get more goals from other places than just Celibbrini and Ekan and Tofoley and Will Smith. I think he could potentially provide some of that and signing him to a three or fouryear deal. again kind of a bridge player as you wait for some of your other guys to potentially um kind of fill into what they need to do and then I think he’s a guy who has shown again if you cut his minutes he can still be productive on a very very good team. So Rosik if I think would be the one I’d be the most interested in. Uh D’vorak next uh because I think we’ve just seen more sustained solid play from him. Frederick is the one I would be the most apprehensive about between the three if I had to kind of rank them right now. So, um, but yeah, that’s going to be it for me today. We’ll be back tomorrow with another set of draft profiles. Uh, so make sure you’re following along wherever you get podcast and of course you can watch on YouTube as well. Follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Lockdown Sharks. Follow me on Twitter and Blue Skyfry Hole. Till tomorrow. Bye friends.

Free agent forwards on the Sharks’ radar? JD Young breaks down three intriguing options for San Jose’s roster. With $40 million in cap space and a need for offensive firepower, the Sharks are poised to make moves. Trent Frederic, a versatile center/wing formerly with the Bruins, could bring size and skill to the middle six. Young examines Frederic’s potential impact on the Sharks’ lineup and how his playing style aligns with the team’s needs.

Christian Dvorak offers defensive prowess and penalty-killing expertise, potentially stabilizing the third line. Young analyzes Dvorak’s stats and projected contract, discussing how his defensive capabilities could bolster the Sharks’ bottom six. Jack Roslovic emerges as the most tantalizing option, boasting a recent 22-goal season and the ability to inject much-needed scoring depth. The podcast explores Roslovic’s offensive upside and how he might fit into San Jose’s system.

Young dives deep into each player’s strengths, weaknesses, and potential contributions to the Sharks. He explores how these additions could support rising star Will Smith and align with GM Mike Grier’s vision for a fast, hard-playing team. The episode provides an in-depth look at how these free agents could reshape the Sharks’ lineup and impact their rebuild strategy. Listeners will gain valuable insights into the team’s potential offseason moves and their implications for the upcoming season.

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