The San Jose Sharks took a chance when they signed undrafted forward Lean Bergmann to a three-year entry-level contract in 2019. That experiment appears to be over, as the team placed Bergmann on unconditional waivers on Friday morning, for purposes of mutually terminating the final year of his contract. The 22-year-old would have carried a cap hit of $836,667, with a minors salary of $70,000.
Bergmann played three seasons of juniors in the USHL before returning to his native Germany in 2018 after not being selected in the NHL draft. With the Iserlohn Roosters in Germany’s top men’s league, Bergmann shaped up to be a natural goal-scorer, notching 20 goals and 9 assists in 50 games, while concerningly taking 87 penalty minutes.