Sharks sign former Detroit Red Wings first round draft pick to one-year deal

NHL: Evgeny Svechnikov had 19 points in 72 games for the Winnipeg Jets last season

The San Jose Sharks have signed free agent winger Evgeny Svechnikov to a one-year, two-way deal.

Per a source, Svechnikov, 25, will make the NHL minimum of $750,000 if he is on the Sharks roster or $350,000 if he is with the Barracuda. Svechnikov would have to clear waivers if the Sharks want to assign him to the AHL.

Svechnikov had 19 points in 72 games for Winnipeg last season as he spent part of the year on a line with Pierre-Luc Dubois, his former teammate with Cape Breton of the QMJHL, and Kyle Connor. However, Svechnikov became an unrestricted free agent after the Jets did not issue him a qualifying offer in July.

Svechnikov, listed at 6-foot-3 and 208 pounds, was a first-round draft choice by the Detroit Red Wings in 2015 and has split time between the AHL and NHL throughout his professional career. He has 31 points in 113 career NHL games. He will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights at the end of the contract.

Svechnikov’s signing adds to the level of competition that some of the team’s forwards will face once training camp begins in roughly three weeks. The Sharks now have 19 forwards with NHL experience, and will likely keep a maximum of 14 for the start of the regular season in October.

Other forwards in competition for roster spots include William Eklund, Thomas Bordeleau, Scott Reedy, Jasper Weatherby, Jonah Gadjovich, Jeffery Viel and Adam Raska.

The Sharks will open training camp the week of Sept. 19, and begin the regular season Oct. 7-8 with two games against the Nashville Predators at O2 Arena in Prague.