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With the San Jose Sharks looking to rework their goaltending situation last offseason, James Reimer was signed to a two-year contract.
Reimer brought a lot of experience with him and while inconsistent from season to season throughout his career, he had shown he could be a quality NHL goalie. Reimer was expected to be used in a tandem with Adin Hill, who was acquired from the Arizona Coyotes and didn’t have a ton of NHL experience.
However, Reimer ended up being counted on for a major role, playing 48 games this season and as many as 13 in a row near the end of the year. He posted a .911 save percentage and while that’s a decent stat, it doesn’t necessarily depict just how important Reimer was to keep the Sharks competitive in a lot of games. For reference, remember Martin Jones had three straight years of an .896 save percentage and it’s not like the Sharks made a ton of moves to improve defensively upon Reimer’s arrival.
As good as Reimer was though, he also finds himself in a situation where the Sharks have two younger goalies. Adin Hill was a bit underwhelming in his first year with San Jose, posting a .906 save percentage in just 25 games. However, the Sharks gave up quite a bit for him and considering he’s just 26 years old and has another year on his contract, we can assume he’ll have a spot with the team next season.
Then Kaapo Kahkonen was also acquired from the Minnesota Wild at the trade deadline and posted a .916 save percentage in 11 games after being acquired by the Sharks. He's played 65 career games and has been a full-time NHL goalie for the last two seasons, meaning he does have a bit of NHL experience. Kahkonen will also be turning 26 years old in August and while he’ll need a new contract, San Jose definitely wants him to have on the roster next season.
So despite Reimer’s strong year, he’s also 34 years old and has a single year remaining on his contract. Given that info and the fact that the Sharks are almost surely going to find themselves out of the playoff race again next season, dealing Reimer for assets makes sense.
While he doesn’t carry significant value, the one-year term brings minimal risk and his $2.25 million cap hit is very reasonable. If the Sharks were to retain half his salary as well, which they shouldn’t hesitate to do for a single year, Reimer’s cap hit could come down to as low as $1.13 million, which would make him an extremely attractive option for a competitive team looking for a veteran backup.
It would be a smart move to give the net to Hill and Kahkonen and even if they stumble, again, San Jose isn’t likely to be competitive anyways. This all said, the Sharks should look to capitalize on Reimer's strong year and bring back a decent pick for him.
Quizwiz 
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
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