SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Sharks agreed Wednesday on an eight-year contract extension with Tomas Hertl, locking up their star center for the long term instead of dealing him away at the trade deadline.
The Sharks had been committed to trying to keep Hertl but wanted to get the extension in place before Monday’s trade deadline. Hertl was in the final year of a $22.5 million, four-year contract and could have been an unrestricted free agent this summer without an extension.
The new deal will pay the 28-year-old Hertl an average of $8 million a season, according to Sportsnet, and keep him under contract through the 2029-30 season.
The terms of the deal are almost identical to the one captain Logan Couture signed with San Jose in 2018.
TRADES: The Florida Panthers landed one of the most coveted players on the trade market, acquiring defenseman Ben Chiarot from the Montreal Canadiens for Tyler Smilanic and two draft picks.
It was the second deal of the day for the Panthers, who cleared out about $2.5 million in cap room earlier when they shipped forward Frank Vatrano – who had two goals for Florida on Tuesday night, the second in overtime – to the New York Rangers for a fourth-round draft pick.
That was the clear indication that the Panthers were looking to do more, and hours later, the deal for Chiarot was done.
That pick acquired from the Rangers ended up becoming part of the deal to get Chiarot. Smilanic, a third-round pick by Florida in 2020, had 13 goals for Quinnipiac in this college season. The Panthers also sent Montreal a first-rounder in 2023, in addition to the fourth-rounder this year.
The 30-year-old Chiarot had seven goals and 11 assists for the Canadiens this season, averaging nearly 24 minutes of ice time per contest. He led Montreal with nearly 26 minutes of ice time per game in last season’s playoffs, when the Canadiens made the Stanley Cup final.
And now he’s headed from a woebegone Montreal team to a Florida team that has eyes on winning a championship. The Panthers entered Wednesday with the second-most points in the NHL this season, behind only Colorado.
Florida also leads the NHL in goals scored, averaging 4.10 per game – on pace to smash the previous club record. The Panthers have given up 2.92 goals per game, which was good for basically the middle of the NHL pack entering Wednesday, 13th-best in the league.
That was one of the reasons why Florida was looking to shore up its defense before the trade window closes and the playoff push begins. The Canadiens will retain 50% of Chiarot’s salary for the rest of this season.
Vatrano, 28, has 93 goals and 64 assists in 379 NHL regular-season games.
• The Seattle Kraken started their pretrade deadline fire sale by sending forward Calle Jarnkrok to the Calgary Flames for three draft picks.
Seattle received a second-round pick in 2022, a third in 2023 and a seventh in 2024. The second-round pick this summer is the one the Flames previously acquired from the Florida Panthers.
The Kraken are retaining half of Jarnkrok’s $2 million salary cap hit for the rest of the season.
Jarnkrok, a 30-year-old Swede with 26 points in 49 games this season, boosts Calgary’s chances to make an extended run through the Western Conference.
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
BLUE JACKETS 4, SENATORS 1: Jack Roslovic scored twice, Elvis Merzlikins stopped 30 shots, and visiting Columbus won its third straight.
Eric Robinson and Sean Kuraly, with an empty-net goal, also scored for Columbus.
Tyler Ennis scored for the Senators, who have lost three straight.
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