San Jose Sharks: Barclay Goodrow is a big loss, but the price was fair

The San Jose Sharks lost one of their most unheralded players in Barclay Goodrow on Monday, but the subsequent return was more than fair.

The San Jose Sharks were especially active during this year’s trade deadline making a total of four trades in the span of a week, but no deal proved more fruitful than the one involving forward Barclay Goodrow.

Goodrow was involved in one of three trades made by San Jose on Monday and one of four during trade season. The Sharks have been active at the deadline in recent years most recently acquiring Gustav Nyquist from the Detroit Red Wings last season.

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However, this year, the Sharks weren’t looking to buy. They were full-fledged sellers.

For that reason, obvious selling candidates such as Brenden Dillon and Patrick Marleau were sent packing while players like Joe Thornton and Melker Karlsson were involved in trade rumors leading up to the deadline.

But Barclay Goodrow doesn’t exactly fit in the same category as his now-former teammates.

The Toronto native is just 26-years-old and in the first year of a cheap two-year contract extension signed last offseason. With an average annual value of just $925,000, Goodrow was young and affordable depth.

And as the Sharks have shown, that’s not something that just grows on trees.

Goodrow was in the midst of a career year with highs in goals (8), assists, (16), and total points (24) through 62 games this season. The former undrafted free agent had been forced into a more prominent role after injuries to Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl.

And to his credit, he played pretty well.

Perhaps where he brings the most value is on the penalty kill as Goodrow has proven to be among the best short-handed players in the NHL.

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Goodrow was likely much more valuable to the team than he was given credit for, and the Sharks will find it very challenging to replace his production. He was young, versatile, and cheap — three things the Sharks desperately need.

But all of that being said, the return was just too much to pass up.

The Sharks sent Goodrow and a 2020 third-round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for their 2020 first-round pick and minor-league forward Anthony Greco. That third-round pick wasn’t even their own as it was acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers in the Justin Braun trade last season.

San Jose was infamously without a first-rounder in this year’s draft after trading away their own in the Erik Karlsson trade. And while the Lightning’s first-round pick will be nowhere near as high as San Jose’s, it’s still a very valuable pick.

Of course, this does raise some concerns about the team’s current plan for next season.

While the Sharks continue to acquired future assets to rebuild the depth of the roster and eventually replace the aging veterans, they still seem intent on competing next year. And if that’s the case, losing a player like Goodrow undoubtedly hurts them.

Still, no matter how valuable Goodrow was, the benefits were too great to pass up. The Sharks didn’t want to part ways with Barclay Goodrow, but Tampa Bay essentially forced their hand.

At least we’ll always have that overtime goal in Game 7 against Vegas to remember him by.