Wingels Signs On For Three in San Jose

The San Jose Sharks took care of some necessary business on Monday, signing restricted free agent forward Tommy Wingels to a new 3-year deal, reportedly worth $7.4 million, just below a $2.5 million cap hit.

The new deal will take the 26-year old into the first couple years of unrestricted free agency, which he'll be eligible to test in the Summer of 2017.

Wingels had a decent year with the Sharks in 2014, finsihing the year with 16 goals and 38 points in 77 games.  He finished 203rd overall in pool scoring, 144th among all forwards, suggesting that he'll have a comfortable spot in this year's hockey pool draft.

The Sharks haven't cleaned house of their big centres just yet, so there is no reason to think that the regular season will be all that different to start the regular season.  I would think that a guy like Wingels, who will sit in the top six this season, by projection, will need one of those centres in Joe Thornton or Patrick Marleau, to stick around and help him get the puck.  There hasn't been many flashes, from what I've seen, of a player that can do most of the scoring on his own.

The Sharks should have more than enough space to fill up the rest of their gaps with the cap room they have left.  I have the Sharks in with a projected roster of 17 players, leaving six spots, at a cap hit of $53.7 million, leaving $15.3 million in space.  Moving either Thornton or Marleau will likely have to have a return of NHL players in a straight hockey move, because moving that much cap space will be hard to fill up with quality players, especially through free agency.

James Sheppard and Jason Demers now remain as the only two key restricted free agents left on their plate.