The San Jose Sharks signed a couple more big bodies on Friday afternoon, picking up 6'4" forward Michal Handzus, signing him to a 2-year, $5 million deal, and also adding 6'1" rugged defenseman Jim Vandermeer, signing him to a 1-year, $1 million deal. Size and strength seem to be fairly important features that the Sharks have been looking for of late, these two signing fit the bill well.
Despite having a healthy season in Los Angeles, the 34-year old Handzus was not very productive on the scoresheet in 2011, scoring only 12 goals and 18 assists in all 82 games. Handzus is a big body and he is a very versatile player, playing in many roles for his teams, which may fare well with the Sharks, if they need him in the second or third line role at any given time.
Vandermeer didn't have a great season in Edmonton either, but the Oilers were not a very productive team in a lot of ways, so everyone suffered a great deal. In 62 games, Vandermeer finished with 2 goals and 12 assists, which saw him finish well out of the top 80 for defensemen and led to a pretty good pay cut for the 2012 season. He is physical and he should be good for supporting the offensive blueliners, so he'll have a niche in San Jose.
Historically, the Sharks are a team that likes to spend a great deal, hoping that they can make their ascent to the top peak of the league and win it all. With these two players signed on, I have the Sharks in at $58.7 million for 17 players (nine forwards, six defensemen and two goalies), which leaves them in okay-to-mediocre shape.
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