With NHL Free Agency less than a month away and one of the headliners being John Tavares, it's a good time to look back seven years to when the San Jose Sharks came close to landing the biggest fish of the 2018 free agent class.
Of course, we all remember that he chose his hometown team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. But the Sharks weren’t far off from agreeing to terms with him. Ultimately, it led to the organization heading into a rebuild that they’re still working their way out of seven years later.
At the time, the Sharks had just come off a second-round loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, and they were desperately trying to add someone to help them get over the hump. Brent Burns led the team in points with 67, and Joe Pavelski was second with 66. Joe Thornton was on a steady decline with only 36 points in 47 games, and Patrick Marleau was a member of the aforementioned Maple Leafs.
The rumored amount that former GM Doug Wilson offered was somewhere between $12–13 million over seven years. Unfortunately, despite a hard push at Tavares in free agency, he opted to go home and play for the Maple Leafs on a seven-year deal with an $11 million AAV. The Sharks were forced to pivot.
On Sept. 13, 2018, the Sharks completed a blockbuster deal with the Ottawa Senators to acquire Erik Karlsson for a package of picks and assets. They missed out on one star forward in Tavares but landed another superstar in Karlsson.
The only issue was, Karlsson wasn’t exactly what they needed. He didn’t fit overly well with Burns and the rest of the blue line. Although he had a 101-point season in 2022–23, his time in San Jose wasn’t nearly what the fans or organization had hoped for.
In the 2018–19 season, the Sharks made it to the Western Conference Final but lost to the St. Louis Blues. Karlsson finished with 45 points in 53 games. As for Tavares, he ended that season with 88 points in 82 games, including 47 goals.
After that 2019 playoff run, the Sharks never made the playoffs again and are now in the thick of a rebuild, led by GM Mike Grier. Karlsson’s stint in San Jose officially ended in 2023–24 when he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Interestingly enough, Kyle Dubas—who was the GM that signed Tavares in Toronto—had since been fired by the Leafs and wanted to make a splash in Pittsburgh. His first big move? Acquiring Karlsson.
As for Tavares and the Maple Leafs, they made the playoffs in all seven seasons he was there. Unfortunately, they didn’t have much playoff success, winning only two rounds in that time.
With Tavares set to hit free agency, it appears likely he re-signs in Toronto to finish his career. But if he doesn’t, should the Sharks finally bring him to San Jose as a mentor to their young core?
