Veteran forward Barclay Goodrow admitted Wednesday he did not like how his tenure with the New York Rangers ended earlier this year when the organization abruptly put him on waivers, leading to him being claimed by the San Jose Sharks.
In a salary cap-related transaction in June, Goodrow was placed on waivers by the Rangers, a move he did not become aware of until shortly before it happened. The following day, Goodrow was claimed by the Sharks, one of the 15 teams he reportedly had on his no-trade list, which included non-playoff contenders.
Goodrow, 31, is in the fourth year of the six-year, $21.85 million contract he signed with New York in 2021. His deal does not include a no-movement clause, which allowed the salary cap-strapped Rangers to place him on waivers.
“I didn’t like how things were handled. That’s just how it went down,” Goodrow told reporters Wednesday after the Sharks practiced at Chelsea Piers in New York. “I didn’t like how it happened, but we’re all past that. It was a while ago. You have to move on.
“It comes with the territory of this job. There’s nothing you can do but put your head down and keep working.”
Goodrow, a two-time Stanley Cup champion, had been on playoff teams for seven straight seasons, including this past spring when the Rangers advanced to the Eastern Conference final.
Goodrow went from a Stanley Cup contender on Broadway to the rebuilding Sharks, who were first in line to claim the Toronto native after they finished at the bottom of the NHL standings last season.
“I still have a lot of close friends on that (Rangers) team. I have a lot of good memories,” Goodrow said. “(We had) a couple of long playoff runs. I loved my time there. It was kind of just unexpected, personally, for how it ended.
“But we’re past that, and I am a Shark and happy to be here.”
It appears Goodrow will have a prominent role in his return to Madison Square Garden on Thursday when the Sharks play the Rangers in the third game of a four-game road trip. In Wednesday’s practice, Goodrow skated on the Sharks’ top line with Macklin Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli as the Sharks look for their sixth win in the last nine games.
Playing mainly in a bottom-six role, Goodrow, one of the Sharks’ leading penalty-killing forwards, has two goals in 17 games this season. He is also seventh among the team’s forwards in average time on ice (14:52).
“It’s exciting, especially it being MSG. That’s always a trip that’s circled on the calendar,” Goodrow said, adding that the game has “a little more meaning to it this time around, so I’ve been looking forward to it and excited to get back.”
The Sharks entered Wednesday in 14th place in the Western Conference standings and four points out of the playoffs. Despite their 4-3 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday, the Sharks are six points ahead of where they were last season after 17 games (3-13-1).
Goodrow began his professional career with the Sharks 10 years ago and played 268 regular season games with the team from 2014 to 2020, scoring one the biggest playoff goals in team history in 2019.
In overtime of Game 7 of San Jose’s first-round series with the Vegas Golden Knights, Goodrow took a pass from Erik Karlsson inside the blue line, skated toward the Vegas net, and scored around goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to give the Sharks a series-clinching 5-4 win.
Goodrow was dealt to the Lightning at the 2020 trade deadline for a first-round draft pick used on forward Ozzy Wiesblatt. Goodrow won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021, adding 12 points in 43 playoff games.
The Sharks roster has almost been completely overhauled since then, with only team captain Logan Couture and defensemen Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Mario Ferraro still left from that 2019-2020 season. The Sharks have also changed head coaches twice since that trade with the Lightning.
“It’s been fun getting to know a bunch of new guys and still having the familiarity of the rink, city, and schedule,” Goodrow said. “It’s been good.”
WALMAN UPDATE
Defenseman Jake Walman could return to the lineup Thursday in the third game of a four-game road trip.
Walman, who has an upper-body injury and has not played the last four games, practiced Wednesday again with the Sharks in New York. Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky later told reporters that the decision to play Walman against the Rangers would be finalized closer to game time.
If the left-shot Walman plays, it was not immediately clear which defenseman might come out of the lineup or whether the Sharks would go with a seven-defenseman, 11-forward configuration.
Despite missing the last three games, Walman still leads all Sharks defensemen with nine points and remains second in average time on ice (22:24).
Walman was kept out of the lineup for the Sharks’ game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 5 for violating team policy by not coming in to get treatment for his injury on an off-day. Walman was officially scratched for the Sharks’ ensuing games against Minnesota, New Jersey, and Philadelphia because of his injury.
