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The San Jose Sharks are reportedly working to re-sign forward Tomas Hertl.
Hertl is 28 years old and is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. He’s spent his entire career with the Sharks to this point, playing 549 games with the team. This year, Hertl’s scored 22 goals and 38 points in 46 games, a pace of 39 goals and 68 points per 82 games.
Joe Will, San Jose’s assistant general manager, said the sides have discussed a new contract.
Considering San Jose's direction right now, it's certainly interesting news. With the trade deadline approaching, Hertl looked as though he may end up as a key trade chip.
If Hertl does re-sign, we can likely expect it to be a maximum-term contract, with the cap hit potentially coming in somewhere around $8 million per year. Regarding a potential extension, Hertl said the following:
So while it seems like a deal is certainly possible, there’s also no guarantee. The reality is that for Hertl to be incentivized to avoid testing the market, the Sharks likely have to be willing to give the eighth year and the cap hit has to be pretty substantial, especially based on the team not being a contender right now.
It’s also still a question as to whether the Sharks should be re-signing him rather than dealing him for future assets, based on his age and the state of the team. Regardless, we’ll likely have more answers in the next month, as the trade deadline approaches.
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