San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier isn’t done shaking up his roster or adding to his front office, with some speculation the team might be trying to trade forward Kevin Labanc.
The Sharks on Tuesday bought out the final year of winger Rudolfs Balcers’ two-year, $3.1 million contract, saving $1.54 million under the salary cap for next season. Monday, the Sharks parted ways with Doug Wilson Jr. as its director of scouting and introduced longtime former NHL player and U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer Doug Weight as a hockey operations advisor.
Grier, per a source, isn’t done making changes in player personnel or to the Sharks’ front office. Late Tuesday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said the Sharks could be moving Labanc, who has two years left on the four-year, $18.9 million contract extension he signed with the Sharks in Oct. 2020.
Labanc, 26, had 28 points in 55 games in the shortened 2020-2021 season and this past year, had just six points in his first 21 games before he suffered a separated shoulder in a Dec. 11 game against the Dallas Stars.
Labanc had surgery in December and missed the rest of the season. It appeared in late March that Labanc might be able to return, but the Sharks kept him out of the lineup as a precautionary measure so he could continue to strengthen the shoulder.
Labanc’s contract carries a $4.725 million average annual value, making him San Jose’s fourth highest-paid forward. However, Labanc saw his ice time decrease from 16:25 per game in 2020-2021 to 13:17 this past season under former coach Bob Boughner.
Grier has said he wants to ice a team that is more tenacious and tougher to play against. Labanc, at 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds, is a skilled playmaking forward but had been scrutinized at times by Boughner for his inconsistency.
A sixth-round draft choice by the Sharks in 2014, Labanc’s best season in San Jose came in 2018-19 when he had 56 points in 82 games.
Labanc’s most famous game with the team came in the first round of the 2019 playoffs, where, in Game 7 against the Vegas Golden Knights, he had four points on a five-minute third-period Sharks power play, including the go-ahead goal with 6:39 left in the third period to put San Jose up 4-3. San Jose later won the game 5-4 in overtime on a goal by Barclay Goodrow.
Labanc has 183 points in 360 career NHL games, all with the Sharks.
