The San Jose Sharks
Cap Situation:
The Sharks have done work to help clean up their cap situation. The Sharks dumped Boedkers contract on Ottawa for Hoffman and then immediately shipped out Hoffman to Florida in exchange for picks. They also bought-out defensemen Paul Martin opening up even more space for a cool 18.8 million in cap space. They do have to negotiate new contracts for Pavelski and Couture after this coming season.
Why it could work:
San Jose likes to run in pairs, meaning that Tavares would likely be playing with 1 of 2 snipers; Joe Pavelski or Evander Kane. They also have two of the best defensemen in the NHL; Brent Burns and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. San Jose is poised to make more cup runs in the west; they most recently came as close as losing in the final to Pittsburgh.
Why it might not work:
Tavares has become accustomed to the teams and players in the east and moving all the way across the country to California might not be ideal for his camp. There is also a question to as how the Sharks plan to spend their money, they certainly would like Tavares but are they willing to go north of 12 million to get a contract done?
