Sharks face challenges as free agency nears; what’s their approach?

SAN JOSE – Flush with salary cap space, the San Jose Sharks are eager to start building their lineup back up again after spending the past two or three seasons tearing some important parts of it away.

However, with NHL free agency beginning Monday, the Sharks’ continuing challenge is to convince the available players they covet to come to San Jose even though the team might be years away from contending for the postseason.

For the Sharks, that means sweetening deals with more money and term to get the players they want.

Such is life for any rebuilding team, even one that appears to have a bright future with some high-end prospects.

“It’s definitely, I think, part of the reality of where we are,” Sharks general manager Mike Grier said last week. “It’s a franchise that I think these players now have grown up watching, and I think it’s still a franchise that players want to come play for.

“But the reality is that we are where we are as far as trying to build this thing back up, and that there might be a situation (where) a player’s looking at a team that’s in the playoff window, and looking at us, and there is a possibility that we might have to maybe pay a little bit more to get him.”

With some of their restricted free agents still needing new contracts, the Sharks, after officially signing forwards Luke Kunin ($2.75 million) and Justin Bailey ($800,000 at the NHL level) to one-year deals on Sunday, have, per PuckPedia, over $26 million in cap space.

The Sharks need to spend that money wisely — for multiple reasons.

The first is that Macklin Celebrini and his family will be watching.

While some reports have indicated that Celebrini, drafted first overall by the Sharks on Friday, will undoubtedly turn pro, there is little question that his dad, Rick Celebrini, wants to see his son have the best chance at success. That means surrounding Macklin with the right type of players to help his adjustment to pro hockey — on and off the ice.

The Sharks’ leadership group includes captain Logan Couture and fellow veterans Mikael Granlund, Kunin, and Mario Ferraro. This offseason, the Sharks also acquired forwards Barclay Goodrow, Ty Dellandrea, and Carl Grundstrom to help them become a harder team to play against after finishing last season with the worst record in the NHL at 19-54-9.

“Knowing the leaders within the Sharks organization, I know they’re thinking along the same lines,” Rick Celebrini said Friday night in Las Vegas. “I think it has to be a win-win, and what’s best for the Sharks is going to ultimately be the best for Macklin, and that’s just to make sure that it’s the right environment for him to succeed.

“At the end of the day, it’s a big jump. It’s a big jump for anybody, and as I’ve said before, the NHL is not a development league. You’re either ready, or you’re not. So it’s just getting to that point where everyone feels comfortable and confident that this is the right moment, this point in time, for Mack to make the transition.”

Adding scoring depth would be an ideal way for the Sharks to support Celebrini and fellow top prospect Will Smith.

The Sharks only had one 20-goal scorer last season in Fabian Zetterlund, who finished with a career-high 24 goals in 82 games. William Eklund, in his first full NHL season, was second with 16 goals. As a team, though, San Jose was next to last in the NHL with 181 goals.

Last season, after drafting Connor Bedard No. 1 overall, the Chicago Blackhawks acquired Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall from the Boston Bruins. They signed Nick Foligno, who had 562 career points in 17 NHL seasons. Hall was injured for most of the season, but Bedard was named the Calder Trophy winner as the NHL’s top rookie.

Grier said he’d like to bring in a scoring winger, and dozens of players are available.

Some intriguing UFAs include Jake DeBrusk, 27, who has scored 71 goals in 221 games the last three seasons; 31-year-old Victor Arvidsson, who has scored 52 goals in 161 games the last three seasons; and Anthony Duclair, who said he would be open to returning to San Jose before the Sharks traded him to the Tampa Bay Lightning in March. Duclair, who turns 29 in August, had 24 goals this past season.

Jordan Martinook, 31, who has 32 goals in 164 games the last two seasons, would also seem to be the type of character player the Sharks would be interested in signing.

Still, despite the renewed interest in the team, the Sharks would prefer not to dole out any six or seven-year deals to acquire a free agent or spend so much that it hamstrings any efforts to bring in new players next summer. Grier has talked about not wanting to skip steps in the rebuild and showing some restraint at this juncture is part of that plan.

“We’re not going to go crazy and way overpay someone just to get them in here,” Grier said. “If it goes over the number we’re comfortable with, we’ll move on to the next guy and keep working that way.

“I think all teams that are towards the bottom of the standings, that just the reality of it. When you get into free agency, if you want to get in on some guys, you might have to pay a little bit more. But we’ll have our limit to how far we’re willing to go with these players, and if it’s something that doesn’t work for the player, then we’re more than happy to move on.”