Like several other pending unrestricted free agents around the NHL, San Jose Sharks center Nico Sturm figures he’ll be moved to another team before the NHL trade deadline in March if he doesn’t receive a contract extension offer.
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“Realistically, as long as nothing’s done, I might probably expect to get moved,” Sturm told this news organization in late December. “If there’s no contract extension, that’s just the reality of life in the NHL.”
Sturm, now in the final year of a three-year, $6 million contract he signed with San Jose as a free agent in 2022, said his agent spoke with Sharks general manager Mike Grier before the season and in November when the team was in New York.
Now, with the season just past the midway point, the Sharks well out of playoff contention, and the March 7 trade deadline less than seven weeks away, Sturm figures it’s nearly decision time for the team’s front office.
“Probably now we’re about halfway done throughout the year, and I’m certain (the front office) has some sort of better picture now of where we’re at as a group, and where they how they want to move forward in the in the next few years to come,” Sturm said.
Sturm, the Sharks’ fourth-line center, entered Saturday’s game with the New York Islanders with five goals and five assists in 39 games, well ahead of last season’s pace when he had 13 points. He leads the NHL in faceoff percentage (63.2) among the 190 players who had taken at least 100 draws this season before Saturday.
Sturm’s ice time is down significantly, from 14:40 per game last season to 9:49 before Saturday’s game — partly due to him being used less on the penalty kill this season than last year.
Still, as one of the NHL’s premier players in the faceoff dot with a modest $2 million cap hit, Sturm could be an attractive, low-risk addition to any playoff-contending team. In 2022, Sturm won the Stanley Cup after he was acquired by the Colorado Avalanche from the Minnesota Wild.
“I’m certainly expecting to hear what’s going on with my future. I think I also deserve that at the point that I am in my career,” Sturm said. “Either way, regardless of how it goes, I’m going to do my job. I’m going to be nothing but a professional. Whether I do sign an extension or do get moved, I’m going to keep doing my job, not going to sulk about it.
“I haven’t sulked about my ice time. I’ve done my job, and I’m going to continue to do that, and put my best foot forward, put my faith in my game, and hope that there’s going to be a team out there that wants me in the future, whether it’s here or somewhere else.”
Before Saturday, Sturm had 88 points in 308 career NHL regular-season games, averaging just under 13 minutes a night. Sturm, who turns 30 in May, said he would like to sign another contract with some term, perhaps three or four years.
Whether the rebuilding Sharks would agree to that is unclear, as Grier also had a handful of other pending UFAs to consider: forwards Mikael Granlund and Luke Kunin, defensemen Cody Ceci and Jan Rutta, and goalies Alexander Georgiev and Vitek Vanecek.
But Grier and the Sharks certainly know by now what Sturm would bring to the team if they wanted to keep him in San Jose.
“I’m not looking for eight times eight. Everybody knows that,” Sturm said of the eight-year, $64 million deals usually reserved for star players. “But I think I do have a little bit of acumen now in the league. I think when you ask coaches, scouts, and other players about the type of player I am, I think there are certain attributes that come to mind.
“I hope that there’s going to be an NHL team out there, whether it’s here or somewhere else, that wants that type of player going forward.”
BARZAL ON CELEBRINI: Islanders forward Mathew Barzal, who won the Calder Trophy as the NHL Rookie of the Year after the 2017-18 season, was impressed with Sharks center Macklin Celebrini after he skated with him last summer in the Vancouver area.
Barzal, a Coquitlam, British Columbia native, returns home each offseason and skates with a group of players, including NHLers, college athletes, those who play in Europe, and junior standouts. Celebrini, 18, was part of that mix for the first time last year, and Barzal liked what he saw.
“He was super friendly to be around in the summer,” Barzal told reporters Saturday. “He’s a great young kid. He’s got a lot of energy, seems happy, and loves to be at the rink, in the dressing room, or on the ice. He’s a great kid. He’s a superstar.”
Celebrini entered Saturday with 32 points in 35 games, with his 13 goals tying him with Philadelphia Flyers forward Matvei Michkov for the most among all rookies. Celebrini, Michkov, Montreal defenseman Lane Hutson and Calgary goalie Dustin Wolf, a Gilroy native, are considered the leading contenders for this year’s Calder Trophy.
“He’s got all the all the tangibles,” Barzal said of Celebrini. “He’s got every tool. But I think what separates him is his work ethic. I think even if you watch him in the NHL, the way he competes on pucks and battles — I saw that in the summer — he’s got endless potential.”
THE ROAD AHEAD: The Sharks’ road trip ends with games against the Boston Bruins on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday and the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.
