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Bell agreed to a three-year contract with the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday. The 25-year-old left wing, whose deal stretches past his first year of eligibility for unrestricted free agency, was acquired from Chicago two weeks ago in a three-team trade that sent defenseman Tom Preissing to Ottawa. |
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Bell had a career-high 25 goals and 23 assists for the Blackhawks last season. |
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Ehrhoff agreed to terms on a two-year contract with the Sharks on Tuesday. Ehrhoff, 24, had five goals and 18 assists in 64 games for San Jose last season. The defenseman then shined in the playoffs when he totaled two goals and six assists in 11 games. |
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Smith was awarded a one-year deal worth $700,000 on Monday, following an arbitration hearing with San Jose. |
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Smith, 28, the Sharks' checking-line center for most of last season, set career highs with nine goals and 15 assists in 80 games. He also led the Sharks with 97 penalty minutes in his fifth season with the team. |
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Pavelski signed with the Sharks on Friday after leading Wisconsin to an NCAA championship as a sophomore last season. The Sharks, who drafted him in the seventh round in 2003, were pleasantly surprised when Pavelski blossomed into an NCAA star. |
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Pavelski led the Badgers with 65 points and 33 assists last season, fueling their power play during their run through the Frozen Four. |
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Bell was traded from Chicago to San Jose on Sunday as part of a three-team deal also involving Ottawa. The left wing was acquired for two prospects. Bell had a career-high 25 goals and 23 assists for the Blackhawks last season. |
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According to Grier's agent, Jay Fee, the 31-year-old right wing agreed to a three-year, $5.3 million contract with San Jose on Monday. Grier will earn $1,775,000 a year, a boost from the $1.36 million he made with Buffalo last season. The nine-year veteran had seven goals and 16 assists in 81 games for the Sabres during the 2005-06 season and added three goals and five assists in 18 postseason games. |
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Grier, who became an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career on Saturday, has 112 goals and 155 assists in 693 career games with Edmonton, Washington and Buffalo. |
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Brown agreed to a deal with the San Jose Sharks on Monday after spending last season with Chicago. The 30-year-old center recorded five goals and 10 assists in his only season with the Blackhawks. Brown, a free agent, played the final 12 games of the 2003-04 season with the Sharks after being acquired from Buffalo, recording two goals and two assists. |
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Brown has 116 goals and 155 assists in 625 career games spanning 11 seasons. |
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Thornton edged out Jaromir Jagr on Thursday to win the Hart Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player. Acquired from Boston on Nov. 30, the San Jose center went on a tear with the Sharks, finishing with 29 goals and 96 assists, leading the league in points and assists and helping linemate Jonathan Cheechoo win the Maurice Richard Trophy with 56 goals. |
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Thornton had 20 goals and 72 assists in 58 games with the Sharks, helping lead them to the Western Conference semifinals. He finished with 1,058 points from voters to Jagr's 974. Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff was third with 561. |
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San Jose Sharks coach Ron Wilson ended speculation that Toskala would be replaced in the net for Wednesday's game against the Edmonton Oilers. "I don't think we have to make a goaltending change," said Wilson. "Vesa has been a rock back there. Last night, he didn't have a chance in any one of the goals. We didn?t do a good job of supporting him and our focus now is to make sure we get back to doing what we do best which is playing sound defensive hockey." |
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Toskala has given up six goals in each of his last two starts. He had a 1.73 goals-against average in the first two games of the series. |
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After performing so well over a three-week stretch of playoff action, Toskala has been shaky in the last two San Jose losses to Edmonton. The goaltender was solid through the first two games of the semifinals against Edmonton, allowing just 15 goals in eight games en route to a 1.73 goals-against average and .936 save percentage. He has given up 11 goals with a .776 save percentage in the last two games, losses that have the Sharks trailing 3-2 in the series. |
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It's hard to say if turning to Evgeni Nabokov is an option. The veteran hasn't made a start since April 17, and he wasn't playing especially well in late March and early April before Toskala took over the No. 1 job. Nabokov made his first playoff appearance Friday, allowing one goal on four shots in a 6-3 loss to Edmonton. |
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Toskala allowed five goals on 31 shots in 48 minutes before being pulled in the Sharks' 6-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals on Friday. The goaltender made a crucial mistake in the second period, when he tried to play the puck but flipped it into Sergei Samsonov, who scored into the open net to tie the game at 3-3. |
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Toskala is 6-3 with a 2.11 goals-against average, one shutout and a .925 save percentage in the first nine playoffs games of his career. |
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Toskala frustrated the Edmonton Oilers all night long Wednesday, stopping 55 of 58 shots before Shawn Horcoff gave the Oilers a 3-2 victory in three overtimes. The San Jose Sharks were trying to take a 3-0 lead in their second-round series with the Oilers, but Edmonton's Shawn Horcoff finally solved Toskala at 2:24 of the third extra session. |
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Toskala has a 6-1 record, 1.73 goals-against average and .936 save percentage in eight playoff games this spring. He ranks among the best of the goalies playing in the postseason. |
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Marleau scored San Jose's first goal Wednesday before the Sharks fell 3-2 to the Edmonton Oilers in triple overtime. The San Jose captain, who leads all NHL players in playoff goals with nine, has at least one goal in six of eight playoff contests and has been held pointless only in the Sharks' Game 1 loss to Nashville in the first round. |
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Thornton, the NHL's point leader with 125 during the regular season, collected his first goal of the postseason Monday night. It took him seven games, but it was a big one. He scored the game-winner late in the second period of San Jose's 2-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers. The Sharks took a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinals series. |
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Thornton's goal came moments after the Sharks killed off a two-man disadvantage for 1:42. Two Sharks players were without sticks after breaking theirs for more than 35 seconds of the penalty kill. |
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Marleau scored his league-leading seventh goal of the postseason in the second period of the Sharks' 2-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Sunday to clinch the series for San Jose in five games. |
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Marleau had eight points in the series and is coming off a career year in which he had 34 goals and 52 assists in 82 games. |
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Marleau had a hat trick in Thursday's 5-4 first-round victory over the Predators. The Sharks' captain scored the go-ahead goal 4:13 into the final period for his third career postseason hat trick. Marleau, the Sharks' franchise leader in postseason goals, has six goals and one assist in his last three playoff games. |
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Marleau finished the regular season with 34 goals and 52 assists for a career-best 86 points. |
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Marleau scored twice in the Sharks' 4-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday to give San Jose a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference first-round matchup. |
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Joe Thornton who? Marleau's two-point night gave him four points in the postseason, while Thornton, the league's leading scorer in 2005-06 with 125 points, has just one goal in three games under heavy defensive pressure. That's just fine with Marleau, who finished third on the team with a career-best 86 points during the regular season. |
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Thornton won his first Art Ross Trophy this season, leading the league with 125 points, two more than the Rangers' Jaromir Jagr. Since coming over from Boston in a trade on Nov. 30, the center has rejuvenated the Sharks and helped teammate Jonathan Cheechoo win the goal-scoring title. |
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Thornton had 92 points in 58 games with San Jose and finished with 29 goals and 96 assists in 81 games with the Bruins and Sharks, besting his previous high of 101 points, set with Boston in 2002-03. |
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Cheechoo won his first Maurice Richard Trophy as the league's top goal-scorer, finishing with a San Jose franchise-record 56, two more than the Rangers' Jaromir Jagr. The third-year right winger greatly benefited from the trade that brought Joe Thornton to the Sharks, scoring 49 goals _ 38 on assists from Thornton _ after Thornton arrived from Boston on Nov. 30. |
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Cheechoo also finished with 37 assists and 93 points, both career highs. |
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Cheechoo scored three goals and had two assists in San Jose's 6-3 win over Anaheim on Saturday. |
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Cheechoo became the NHL's leading goal-scorer with his fifth hat trick, and has eight goals in his last four games. Cheechoo now has 54 goals on the season, one more than the Rangers' Jaromir Jagr. |