Saturday, July 02, 2016

Schlemko Shifts to the Sharks



The San Jose Sharks added another pool worthy piece to their already impressive regular season blueline, as they signed defenseman David Schlemko to a 4-year deal on Friday.

However, the deal itself is a little curious, as it will be a 35+ contract, which will carry a $2.1 million cap hit, regardless of if he is playing for the Sharks or not (injury not withstanding).  Usually, we wouldn't see a longer-term contract for 35+ players, since they do have a tendency to bite management in the rear end.

Nevertheless, Schlemko did have a decent season in 2016, picking up 6 goals and 19 points in 67 games with the New Jersey Devils and that made him fairly attractive to the the Sharks organization, as they add him to a deep lineup as it is.

Schlemko isn't really known as a big minute guy, which could certainly be to his benefit, since he will be lining up with some bigger minute guys like Brent Burns or Marc-Edouard Vlasic.  I don't think he will get the same 18 minutes per game he did in Jersey, so his numbers could drop off some next season.

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