Sharks Linked To Flyers' Young Defenseman

The San Jose Sharks are looking to bring in some young defenseman who will fit with what they're trying to build for the future. The team wants to build the defense similar to what the forward group looks like and have more options that they can feel confident in.

San Jose has many UFAs after this season, and some, if not all of them, are going to be dealt this season as rentals. This includes John Klingberg, Mario Ferraro, Timothy Liljegren, Nick Leddy, and Vincent Desharnais. Sticking around should be Sam Dickinson, Dmitry Orlov, Shakir Mukhamadullin, Jack Thompson, Luca Cagnoni, and Vincent Iorio, but some aren't even in the NHL this season.

David Pagnotta linked the Philadelphia Flyers' young defenseman, Emil Andrae, to the Sharks based on their desire to bring in more defensive talent. He said, "I think the overall goal for San Jose is to find a way to bring in young talent on that backend. Emil Andrae out of Philly...I think that fits the mold." Andrae appears to be on the outs in Philadelphia, as said by Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff.

The Flyers already have smaller defensemen in the top-4 with Jamie Drysdale and Cam York, so Andrae would just add another smaller body to that group if he sticks around. That could become easier to play against than teams that bulk up on the back-end.

Even if the Sharks want to take a run at Andrae sooner rather than later, it doesn't mean that they have to trade a pending UFA back to the Flyers, even though a type of deal like that could work with the injury to Rasmus Ristolainen right now. Andrae, 23 years old, is still exempt from waivers, so the Sharks could stash him in the AHL for now until space opens up. He is playing there in the Flyers' organization at the moment anyway.

Mike Grier is going to be looking at young defensemen like this and the expectation is that he is going to continue being active for the Sharks as they try to find a form for the near future.

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