Sharks Acquire Eager from Atlanta

			2011 Season				2011	Remaining
To San Jose	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Cap Hit	Years	Cap Hit
Ben Eager	Forward	27	34	3	7	10	$965,000	0	UFA
--------------------------
To Atlanta	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Cap Hit	Years	Cap Hit
2011 5th Round Draft Pick

On Tuesday morning, the Atlanta Thrashers decided to deal gritty forward Ben Eager to the San Jose Sharks for a 5th round draft pick.  This deal could be the unofficial start of rental season, where teams who are in the hunt for the playoffs are picking up players who are becoming unrestricted free agents on the cheap.

Eager was dealt to the Thrashers from the Blackhawks at the beginning of the Chicago fire sale, post Cup win in June, as the Blackhawks were trying to make themselves cap compliant.  Eager was then signed to a brand new deal as a restricted free agent, but the relationship has only lasted to the middle of the season.

Eager has just finished serving a 4-game suspension handed down to him by the league for his sucker punch to Toronto's Colby Armstrong and was then made eligible for the move.

Eager, a Cup-winning role player in Chicago, should bring some more grit to the Sharks' 3rd line, which they can count on against some of the top Western Conference opponents.  As for scoring, Eager isn't really known for his regular season productivity, so I don't think I would count him for any more points being on a different team's 3rd line, but in the playoffs, he wouldn't be a bad feature in that pool as one of those grinders who may come through.

Already having the move done on CapGeek.com, the Sharks still have plenty of workable room on their roster, maybe giving them a little more space to make another move similar to this, finding a player that can help grind out some games and gain some momentum from the bottom six.  As of today, the Sharks could afford someone else in the $1 million range, which should get a bit better the closer the team gets to the trade deadline.