The San Jose Sharks are giving just three restricted free agents qualifying offers.

They’ve passed on eight RFAs, making them unrestricted free agents.

Thomas Bordeleau, Danil Gushchin, and Jack Thompson were qualified.

Winger Gushchin and defenseman Thompson aren’t a surprise.

Right-handed Thompson provided puck-moving depth for the San Jose Sharks as a rookie last year, putting up four goals and 10 points in 31 games. Just 23, he’s got some upside.

Gushchin suited up for just 12 games last year, notching just one assist. The 23-year-old winger has clear offensive talent though and is hopefully scratching the surface of his potential.

Same goes for Bordeleau, though like Gushchin, he also is a candidate for a fresh start. The 23-year-old center-winger just got into one game for the Sharks this past season.

Both Gushchin and Bordeleau are examples of retaining rights on talented players, even if they don’t project to be San Jose Sharks regulars in 2025-26. They’re at least intriguing depth and could always surprise.

That’s why cutting Kovalenko loose comes as something of a shock.

Kovalenko was one of the key elements of the MacKenzie Blackwood trade in December, along with the Colorado Avalanche’s 2026 second-round pick.

“We really like the Kovalenko kid. We had talks about him with Colorado last year. He’s going to come in and play for us right away,” San Jose Sharks GM Mike Grier said after the trade. “Give us something a little bit different than what we have, he’s a competitive, north-south player. He’s someone we’re hoping we can grow with.”

In fairness to Grier, NHL scouts outside of the Sharks also liked Kovalenko the player.

“Useful middle-of-the-lineup guy, above-average skill and speed,” one scout said about Nikolai Kovalenko. “Can play with pace.”

The 25-year-old winger showed promise on the ice, scoring seven goals and 20 points in 57 games last season, but his and his father’s public grousing about head coach Ryan Warsofsky appeared to come out of nowhere.

But even if he wasn’t going to be a part of the Sharks, it’s still surprising to see San Jose completely wash their hands of him. While the trade market for the malcontent was likely soft, there were ways for him to increase his value next season.

Instead, the San Jose Sharks just walked away from an asset with more value than the other players that they didn’t give qualifying offers to.

But it looks like San Jose didn’t want Kovalenko around in any capacity.

The Sharks also didn’t issue QO’s to Carl Berglund, Nolan Burke, Brandon Coe, Noah Gregor, Klim Kostin, Georgi Romanov, and Mitchell Russell.