There’s no more important pending unrestricted free agent for the San Jose Sharks to lock up than Tomas Hertl.
Admittedly, there’s not a lot of pressing competition in the upcoming off-season, as Alexander Barabanov, Andrew Cogliano and Jaycob Menga are the team’s remaining UFAs, though there will need to be room in the budget for pending restricted free agents Mario Ferraro and Jonathan Dahlen, along with a handful of other RFAs.
Unloading Evander Kane’s contract is a crucial component to locking down Hertl long-term, on both a money and personal level, as Hertl reportedly was among the players who was unhappy with Kane’s behavior last season.