Yesterday, winger Barclay Goodrow re-signed with the San Jose Sharks for two years. It’s easy to think of Goodrow as a “young” player, considering he’s only played in 17 NHL games over the past two seasons, and 77 since signing with San Jose in 2014.
Yet Goodrow is already 24 years old. Of course, in the real world, that means he’s in his seventh year of adulthood. But in professional hockey, that means he’s nearing the end of his prime. We know that scoring, scoring chance, and shot generation rates peak in a player’s mid-20s. There’s hope that Goodrow can seize an NHL roster spot this fall, but his game likely is what it is at this point, and any expectations of improved scoring would be unrealistic.