San Jose Sharks: What Does The Joe Pavelski Contract Extension Mean For The Team?
May 21, 2013; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Sharks center Joe Pavelski (8) against the Los Angeles Kings during the third period of game four of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at HP Pavilion. The San Jose Sharks defeated the Los Angeles Kings 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Another day in the offseason, and another young star signed for the San Jose Sharks.
Yesterday the San Jose Sharks signed Joe Pavelski to a five-year, $30 million dollar contract extension further solidifying the evolving core of the Sharks which is slowly getting younger and younger.
This price comes as no surprise after the L.A. Kings signed their American-born captain Dustin Brown to an eight-year $46 million dollar deal. The deal has an average adjusted value of $5.87 million per year, allowing many to believe the Pavelski signing would be similar.
Long-term, the move is great, because the team now has a great one-two punch up the middle for five more years. Unfortunately, with Pavelski being 29 years old, the back-end of this deal will most likely not be worth it. At $6 million a year you are expecting top-quality stuff, and the fact that he will be 30 years old next year means he’ll be 34 when the contract is up.
Funny enough, this is the situation the Sharks will find themselves at the end of the upcoming 2013-2014 season with Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, and Dan Boyle in the final years of their deals. Their ages are 33, 34, and 37 respectively.
The good news is all three will definitely be had at a cheaper price by the end of the season, and due to this Pavelski signing may even be able get all three. Either way, by signing Pavelski to an extension this year, he is able to start working on getting these three guys signed as soon as possible rather than waiting until the end of the season. So, not only does this signing help in the long-term scheme of things, it helps short-term too.
Plus, if Martin Havlat is ever able to get healthy again, the Sharks could still use their compliance buyout on him next season. That would free up quite a bit of money to sign these guys next year. That is a BIG if though. It would probably be more beneficial if Havlat actually played a full, healthy season, then Sharks would enjoy a quality secon-line winger. That has not been the case so far though during his stint with the Sharks.
Of course, it is no guarantee they want to be back in San Jose, or that Wilson feels that all three are a great fit for the team, but this action has allowed him to stay ahead in the game.
Some other names that may be brought up in place of those three are guys that are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents next year according to Capgeek are Jay Boumeester and maybe a guy like Phil Kessel. Both would definitely cost more, but would be younger options.
In the case of Boumeester versus Boyle, both play a similar style of game as the puck-moving defenseman. The difference? Boumeester will be 30 at the end of the season compared to Boyle who is in his late 30’s.
Either way, this move serves to greatly help the Sharks for both the short and long-term outlook of the team. It seems GM Doug Wilson has done it again.