The San Jose Sharks made a notable trade ahead of the expansion draft, sending goaltender Josef Korenar and a 2022 second-round pick to the Arizona Coyotes, in exchange for goaltender Adin Hill and a 2022 seventh-round pick.
Hill was likely to be left exposed for the expansion draft, as the Coyotes chose to protect Darcy Kuemper. As a result, the Sharks were able to make a deal to acquire Hill, before the Coyotes risked losing him to Seattle for nothing.
Hill is 25 years old and is currently a restricted free agent. This season, he posted a .913 save percentage in 19 games and has managed a .909 save percentage in 49 career NHL games over the past four seasons.
To me, this trade is a gamble.
While he’s been strong in a limited sample size over the last two seasons, Hill doesn’t really have a ton of NHL experience and hasn’t even hit the 20-game mark in a single season yet. In fact, this past season was the first time he didn’t spend the majority of his season in the AHL.
I should make it clear that I’m not against the addition of Hill because he doesn’t have a proven track record. On the contrary, adding a fairly young goalie with high upside, rather than just going after a temporary fix in free agency, was a good call.
I’m more concerned about what the Sharks gave up for him. While Josef Korenar showed potential, signs didn’t necessarily point to him becoming a long-term starter for the Sharks and my issue with the deal revolves more around the pick the Sharks traded away.
A second-round pick isn’t usually a huge price to pay but when the Sharks are a team with a severe lack of depth and cap space, they need to build through the draft to be competitive again. Factor in that San Jose is also missing their second-round pick in this year’s draft and the team is now without two of their top four picks in the next two drafts. Again, for a contending team, not really a problem, but it’s a different story for the Sharks, who are sacrificing key future assets to gamble on a goalie working out.
On another note, even provided Hill does improve San Jose’s situation in net, I also really question whether a better goalie will make much of a difference. The Sharks are so bad defensively that I’m not sure they'd get back into the playoffs even with a pretty decent starter.
So we’ll see how this goes. Hill could definitely end up taking over the starting role and remaining with the Sharks long-term, making general manager Doug Wilson look good in this trade in the process. But there’s also the chance that Hill isn’t a difference-maker and the Sharks gave up a key draft pick, without really improving their situation.
Check back tomorrow for an updated look at the Sharks' expansion draft situation and who they may lose to Seattle.
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