After staying thrifty with contracts, can the Sharks improve this season?

SAN JOSE The Sharks were current on the first day of unrestricted free agency on Tuesday but as expected stayed thrifty as they tried to take a modest step forward as a franchise after being at the bottom of the NHL standings for the last two years The Sharks signed forward William Eklund to a three-year million contract extension brought in three unrestricted free agents on short-term deals and acquired a goalie they believe can help shore up a problematic position The Sharks added veteran free agent forwards Adam Gaudette and Philipp Kurashev and defenseman John Klingberg and also acquired goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic from the Pittsburgh Penguins for a third-round selection Whether the acquisitions can help pull the Sharks out of the NHL s basement is unclear But general manager Mike Grier disclosed the additions plus specific internal expansion from the younger players can at least help make San Jose a more competitive squad We re going to take a step forward Grier revealed I know there are times where we want to speed this thing up but I think naturally we ll take a step forward Tuesday was the first day that the Sharks could sign Eklund to a contract extension and the two sides didn t waste much time The Sharks could have signed Eklund to a long-term deal possibly for eight years and made him the association s highest-paid forward However both the organization and the athlete were more content with a bridge deal putting off what could be a major payday for Eklund until after the NHL s salary cap exceeds million The cap will be million this season and is projected to increase to million in - Grier and Eklund s camp met in Texas at the IIHF U World Championships after the Sharks season ended and laid the groundwork for the contract which was wrapped up over a scarce new phone calls This past year in his second full NHL season Eklund was the Sharks second-leading scorer setting a career high with points and becoming a more integral part of the band s lineup The deal will make him the second-highest-paid forward in - with Tyler Toffoli s contract which runs through the - season carrying a million AAV I think for both parties we wished to see an extension here Eklund declared Tuesday We required to finish it before next year and I think it worked out pretty well We both want to keep his thing going forward and keep getting better so I think it worked out pretty well for both parties Gaudette who will be entering his eighth NHL season signed a two-year million contract Kurashev is coming to San Jose on a one-year million deal and Klingberg was inked for one year at million Gaudette figures to be a fourth-line forward for the Sharks while Kurashev could fit into a middle-six role especially if he s able to recapture the form he displayed two years ago when he had points in games for the Blackhawks Last season Kurashev had points in games and was not given a qualifying offer by Chicago as a pending restricted free agent and became a UFA Kurashev drafted by Chicago in spent five seasons with the Blackhawks and had points in games Klingberg fills a need for the Sharks as an offensive-minded right-shot defenseman Now entering his th NHL season Klingberg from to was eighth in scoring among all NHL defensemen with points in games Klingberg s production however began to decline and in December while with the Toronto Maple Leafs he underwent resurfacing surgery on both hips After a long recovery Klingberg signed a one-year deal with the Oilers in January and had four points in regular-season games with Edmonton which advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for a second straight year In the Oilers Cup run Klingberg had four points in games and played an average of per night Now the plan is for him to help quarterback the Sharks power play which ranked th out of teams last season He s moving better and better Grier declared of Klingberg s physical condition The playmaking has invariably been there Even if you look at Patrick Kane his first year back from that similar surgery he did OK Then this past year he was even better and had a really solid year So we think that the promising is there with Klingberg with another summer of rehab strengthening and conditioning Nedeljkovic is entering the final year of a two-year million contract He is set to become an unrestricted free agent when the contract expires The Sharks were hoping to add a goalie who could compete with rookie Yaroslav Askarov for playing time Last season the -year-old Nedeljkovic played in games with the Penguins and had a - - record and a save percentage Related Articles Sharks top prospect Sam Dickinson lauds No pick Michael Misa former OHL opponent Sharks try to address need acquire goalie from Penguins for draft pick Sharks sign ex-Blackhawks forward ex-Oilers defenseman to contracts Sharks sign winger to new deal but bigger future contract likely awaits Who might be a fit with the San Jose Sharks as free agency begins The Sharks did not have another goalie with NHL experience under contract after they traded Vitek Vanecek to the Florida Panthers in March and elected not to re-sign Alexandar Georgiev The Sharks allowed a league-high goals per event last season and their unit save percentage was third-worst in the NHL There were a handful of goalies on the UFA field including Ilya Samsonov Alex Lyon Anton Forsberg and Dan Vladar But the Sharks elected to agreement for the -foot- Nedeljkovic who in NHL games with Carolina Detroit and Pittsburgh has a - - record and a save percentage with nine career shutouts For us it was crucial really to have someone who can push Askarov and also compete with and he has a strong work ethic Grier explained of Nedeljkovic who already knows Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky He s going to be someone that Askarov can learn from but also compete with