The Sharks’ free agency signings were big — for multiple reasons
San Jose Sharks solidify lineup by signing Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg to multiyear contracts
SAN JOSE – The Sharks’ extreme offseason makeover continued Monday as they signed free agent veteran forwards Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg to multiyear contracts, adding to an already sizeable group of new players that general manager Mike Grier hopes will make the team more competitive.
“Sometimes it takes some time to do things, and there’s still a lot of work to be done,” Grier, now in his third season, said Monday, the first day of NHL free agency. “But I think now we’re starting to at least head towards being the type of team I would like us to be.”
Toffoli, a winger who has played for seven different teams over the past five seasons, was signed to a four-year, $24 million contract with a full no-movement clause. Considering the Sharks’ prospect pool, led by Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, Toffoli was interested in coming to San Jose.
“It seems like the team is going in the right direction here,”Toffoli said. “Just excited to be part of the process.”
“Tyler was at the top of our list,” Grier said.
The Sharks then added center Wennberg, 29, to a two-year, $10 million deal that contains a full no-trade clause for the first season.
The 32-year-old Toffoli, a 2014 Stanley Cup champion with the Los Angeles Kings, has scored 260 goals in his 12-year career, including 87 in the last three seasons, despite moving from Calgary to New Jersey to Winnipeg.
Wennberg has 335 points in 712 NHL games and has spent most of his career as a middle-six forward in stints with Columbus, Florida, Seattle, and the New York Rangers.
Both players figure to not only add some badly needed scoring punch to the Sharks, who had the second-fewest goals in the NHL last season with 181, but also provide some insulation to Smith, the fourth-overall selection in 2023, and Celebrini, the top pick this year.
Smith, 19, led all NCAA Division I players in scoring last season with 71 points in 41 games for Boston College and signed with the Sharks in May. Celebrini of Boston University was the Hobey Baker Award winner as college hockey’s top player with 64 points in 38 games.
Those players needed some support after the Sharks finished last season with a 19-54-9 record, missing the playoffs for a fifth straight year. Toffoli and Wennberg, the Sharks envision, should provide some, along with the team’s other veterans.
Toffoli and Wennberg, perhaps not coincidentally, have the same representative as Celebrini in Pat Brisson.
“You can just see how skilled he is and how hard he works,” Toffoli said of Celebrini. “I’ve heard nothing but great things about him, being part of the same agency. It’s an exciting time, and I think that’s also another major reason for me wanting to come here, which was to be able to play with him.”
Celebrini, 18, still hasn’t officially declared whether he’ll turn pro or return to school for a second season. However, the addition of forwards Toffoli and Wennberg would seem to provide the kind of insulation his dad, Dr. Rick Celebrini, a Warriors’ vice president, wanted for his son before he started his NHL career.
Toffoli had a leadership role with the rebuilding Montreal Canadiens three years ago and spent the first three-quarters of this past season with the New Jersey Devils around Luke and Jack Hughes.
“I think for myself, it’s just coming to the rink every day and trying to teach him how to be a pro,” Toffoli said of Celebrini. “It’s not easy coming out of college or junior, turning pro and playing in the NHL. Just working hard every day, and if he sees those habits and he continues to progress, he’s going to be a special player. He already is a special player.”
Often used as a second-line center by Seattle. Wennberg can be seen as an insurance policy for the Sharks if captain Logan Couture cannot return to the lineup full-time next season.
Couture missed the first 55 games of last season as he dealt with a sometimes debilitating groin injury called osteitis pubis. He played in six straight games at the end of January, but his injury returned, and he did not play the rest of the season after the all-star break.
“I think that went into the thinking a little bit, but we’re very hopeful that (Couture) will be able to play and contribute,” Grier said. “It’s a little insurance, sure, but hopefully (Couture) can play.”
The Sharks have made some massive roster changes this week, probably for the better.
Forwards Filip Zadina, Jack Studnicka, Mike Hoffman, Alexander Barabanov, Kevin Labanc, and Ryan Carpenter, defensemen Calen Addison, Jacob MacDonald, Kyle Burroughs, and Nikolai Knyzhov, and goalie Devin Cooley are gone.
Toffoli, Wennberg, Smith, Barclay Goodrow, Ty Dellandrea, Carl Grundstrom, and defenseman Jake Walman are new additions.
With Wennberg, Couture, Granlund, Goodrow, and Nico Sturm, the Sharks have five centers with significant NHL experience. Luke Kunin, Thomas Bordeleau, and William Eklund can also play the position.
With the Wennberg contract, the Sharks’ projected cap hit for this upcoming season is just over $71 million, a number bound to grow after the Sharks get a large group of RFAs under contract.
Grier said he’s done most of the heavy lifting in shaping the 2024-25 season roster, although some minor additions could still be made.
“I’m excited for the organization and the guys in the room,” Grier said. “When you get into the office this morning, you never know how (free agency’s) going to go. You just hope you’re going to be able to get a guy you really like.”