Is Sharks’ Timo Meier headed down same path as Matthew Tkachuk?

San Jose Sharks forward Timo Meier said he can understand why other NHL teams would want to talk to him about a possible contract extension before any trade for him is completed.

Meier is in the final year of a four-year, $24 million contract and is slated to become a restricted free agent in the offseason. He is making $10 million in salary this year, meaning the Sharks, if they keep him, will have to issue him a qualifying offer of that size this offseason to maintain his negotiation rights.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said earlier this week that if Sharks general manager Mike Grier gets a trade offer he likes, he will let the other team speak with Meier and his agent, Claude Lemieux, to help work out a potential contract extension.

If a contract is worked out, the other team would avoid paying the salary cap-unfriendly qualifying offer. From the Sharks’ perspective, such a contract would presumably improve the trade’s return.

Meier, without a long-term extension, can become an unrestricted free agent in 2024.

Such an arrangement, if finalized, would be similar to what Calgary and Florida worked out last July, when the Flames signed Matthew Tkachuk to an eight-year, $76 million extension — negotiated by the Panthers — then traded him for Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, a prospect, and a draft pick. It was believed to be NHL’s first-ever sign and trade.

“Obviously I know that teams — if there’s a trade — are going to want to talk extension, so I think that this makes sense,” Meier said Saturday morning before the Sharks played the Columbus Blue Jackets to start a five-game road trip.

Meier figures to be a top target of playoff-bound NHL teams prior to the March 3 NHL trade deadline. He entered Saturday with a team-high 26 goals as he’s spent most of the season on the Sharks’ top line with Tomas Hertl.

“Obviously you hear the rumors, but for me, it’s nothing too crazy,” Meier said. “It’s just trying to focus on the games and don’t get distracted too much by that stuff.”

Grier, in his first year as the Sharks’ GM, said last week that one of his team’s biggest needs is to get younger and more dynamic. Trading Meier and acquiring draft picks, including a 2023 first-rounder, or prospects could help fill that void.

“Right now,” Grier said, “we don’t really have the young guys pushing to, I guess, grab the torch from the older guys.”

The Sharks entered Saturday in seventh place in the Pacific Division with 37 points, 14 points out of a playoff spot.

After Saturday, the Sharks’ road trip continues with games against Boston on Sunday, Detroit on Tuesday, and Carolina and Pittsburgh next Friday and Saturday, respectively, before the NHL’s all-star break begins.

It could be the last time some Sharks players face these teams in a teal uniform.

San Jose also has forwards Nick Bonino and Matt Nieto and goalie James Reimer as pending unrestricted free agents. There also continues to be speculation that Erik Karlsson, with a team-high 62 points in 46 games before Saturday, could be moved before the deadline. However, unlike Meier, who has no trade restrictions, Karlsson has a full no-movement clause with veto power over any potential deal.

Meier said he wants to keep his focus on winning games for the Sharks.

“That’s the only thing on my mind,” Meier said. “There are some things you’re going to hear but that’s all part of that. Every time the trade deadline comes closer, there’s going to be stuff like that. You’ve got to be able to handle that situation, you’ve got to keep it professional and go out there and play your hardest.

“As of now, I feel really comfortable and it’s not bothering me.”

NOTE: Goalie Kaapo Kahkonen will start Saturday’s game in Columbus, Sharks coach David Quinn said, likely leaving James Reimer to start Sunday against the league-leading Bruins.

Kahkonen has a record of 2-1-1 this month with a .868 save percentage and 3.98 goals-against average. In two career games against Columbus, the NHL’s 32nd-place team, Kahkonen owns a 1-0-1 record, a 1.92 GAA, and a .923 save percentage.