San Jose Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov will be a unrestricted free agent on July 1
It appears San Jose Sharks net-minder Evgeni Nabokov will in fact be testing the waters of free-agency come July 1. Sharks Executive Vice-President and General Manager Doug Wilson informed the 35 year-old goalie on Tuesday that San Jose would not be offering him a contract, making him an unrestricted free agent as of noon ET on July 1.
This is a slightly surprising decision by the Sharks as Nabokov has been their starting goaltender since 2000 and personally stated that he would prefer to remain with the Sharks. Nabokov has spent his entire career as a Shark, and has amassed a 293-176-29-37 record. Of these victories, 131 have come in the last three years, the highest three-year win total of any goalie in the National Hockey League. Additionally, Nabokov is also second amongst active goalkeepers in shutouts. His tally of 50 shutouts trails only New Jersey Devils legend Martin Brodeur.
Although Nabokov had shown interest in re-signing with San Jose after the expiration of his current five-year deal, Wilson thinks that the team needs to allocate funds elsewhere.
Wilson stated: “We would like to thank Nabby [Nabokov] for the time he has spent in San Jose. Nabby has been a big part of this team for the past 10 seasons and played an important role is our successes. This decision boils down to a dedication of dollars in a salary cap system and under this system, teams can't keep everyone. We are excited about the goaltenders coming up through our system and we will also keep an eye on assets that may become available in the coming weeks."
Wilson then shifted the topic by saying: “Moving forward, we now have to turn our focus to other players in our organization who have expiring contracts in the next two weeks."
The decision to not attempt to negotiate with such a star keeper gives the Sharks the opportunity to re-sign many of the other players whose contracts expire July 1. The two most important players the Sharks seek to retain are Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski. Last season Marleau scored an impressive 44 goals and is currently the all-time Sharks leader in points. Like Nabokov he is a career Shark, but in his case it seems likely he’ll remain one. Joe Pavelski is the Sharks’ No. 2 centre and a dynamic young player who proved himself throughout the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs. This post season Pavelski had three straight multi-goal games, becoming the first player since Mario Lemieux to do so.
In addition to these two star players, the Sharks will also seek to retain as much as possible of their supporting cast, many of whom also enter free agency this off-season. This would include attempts to re-sign right winger Devin Setoguchi, defenseman Niclas Wallin, and forwards Scott Nichol and Manny Malhorta.
Wilson’s decision to let Nabokov go is most likely based on the success of numerous other franchises with low-wage goalies. A prime example of this is the Chicago Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup with Antti Niemi in net. Niemi, whose salary is only around $830,000, was part of the Blackhawks team which swept San Jose in the Western Conference finals.
According to Wilson it is important to “look at the trends in this league the last four or five years in particular and the dollars that are dedicated to that position. If you're dedicating $5 million or $6 million, that's coming out of somewhere else."
The Sharks have been a perennial powerhouse in the West, but have struggled for success in the playoffs. Nabokov has had a string of disappointing playoff performances over the past few seasons, and Wilson seems to be embracing the new school philosophy of using a cheaper goalkeeper but buying him more support. This theory is sound and has been proven to succeed, but we’ll only be able to evaluate Wilson’s decision once the Sharks actually hit the ice.
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