The San Jose Sharks announced they have issued three qualifying offers to pending restricted free agents.
Monday is the deadline for NHL teams to issue qualifying offers for their pending RFAs. For the Sharks, Thomas Bordeleau, Danil Gushchin, and Jack Thompson received QOs.
Headed into the 2025 off-season, the Sharks had a total of 11 pending RFAs.
Goalie Georgi Romanov might be a surprise player not to receive a QO. Following the trade deadline, Romanov was forced into NHL action after he wasn’t sent down to the AHL. From that point forward, he was not eligible to return and spent the rest of the regular season as Alexandar Georgiev’s backup.
With Yaroslav Askarov appearing ready to step into the No. 1 goalie role, the Sharks need to find a backup. Based on San Jose Sharks GM Mike Grier’s comments, the team would like to bring in a veteran to pair with Askarov.
“There’s all different levels of veterans. There might be guys who have played three or four years, or then there’s the guys that have been in the league for 10 years,” Grier said during his exit interview. “We’ll look at all those guys.”
Sharks forward Nikolai Kovalenko also didn’t receive a qualifying offer. The winger was part of the return that sent Mackenzie Blackwood to the Colorado Avalanche. After a hot start on Macklin Celebrini’s wing, Kovalenko cooled off and found him self watching from the press box for many of the season’s final games.
A player can still return to the San Jose Sharks even if they have not gotten a QO. After acquiring Blackwood from the New Jersey Devils, San Jose did not qualify him before signing a two-year contract extension.
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