SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks acquired another veteran forward on Monday, signing Alexander Wennberg to a reported two-year deal with an average annual value of $5 million.
News of Wennberg’s signing by San Jose was reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Wennberg has 91 goals and 335 points in 712 games in his 10-year NHL career. He had 30 points in 79 games last season between the Seattle Kraken and the New York Rangers, averaging just under 18 minutes of ice time per game.
Wennberg was traded by the Kraken to the Stanley Cup-contending Rangers in March and had two points in 16 playoff games.
The Sharks also agreed to a four-year, $24 million deal with forward Tyler Toffoli earlier Monday, the first day of NHL free agency. Last month, they also picked up Wennberg’s Rangers teammate Barclay Goodrow off waivers.
Wennberg was coming off a three-year, $13.5 million contract he signed with the Kraken in July 2021.
Wennberg’s deal can be seen as an insurance policy if captain Logan Couture cannot return to the lineup full-time next season.
Couture missed the first 55 games of last season as he dealt with a sometimes debilitating groin injury called osteitis pubis. He played in six straight games at the end of January, but his injury returned, and he did not play the rest of the season after the all-star break.
Sharks general manager Mike Grier said last week that Couture was feeling good and was scheduled to begin skating later this month.
The Sharks now have 10 forwards, including Couture, on one-way contracts, a group that does not include restricted free agents Thomas Bordeleau, Ty Dellandrea, or Carl Grundstrom, or players on entry-level contracts like Will Smith, Collin Graf, William Eklund, and Justin Bailey.
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