In the midst of the biggest free agent day of the year, the San Jose Sharks have also elected to lock up two of their own players for a while longer – signing both goaltender Martin Jones and defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic to contract extensions.
⚡️ “Vlasic and Jones Re-Signed by #SJSharks”https://t.co/tgpsIB1xF8
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) July 1, 2017
Calling on Jones
The 27-year-old Jones will be heading into his third full season with the Sharks, but coming off two great years, the team wanted to lock him up long term. Therefore, the Sharks decided to sign their start to a six-year extension worth $34.5 million, according to Pierre LeBrun.
The deal which is set to kick in for the 2018-19 season will have an AAV of $5.75 million through the 2023-24 season.
In two seasons with the Sharks, Jones has a 72-46-10 record in 130 regular season games to go along with a .915 save percentage and 2.33 goals against average. While his numbers jumped slightly last season compared to 2015-16 (his first year with the Sharks), Jones still walked away with a 35-23-6 record in 65 games as well as a .912 save percentage and 2.40 goals against average.
He helped lead the Sharks into the Cup Final in 2015-16 where they eventually lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins, but he carried a .923 save percentage and 2.16 goals against through that postseason.
On top of that, he’s finished in the top 10 in Vezina trophy voting the past two seasons as the starter for the Sharks (seventh in 2015-16 and sixth in 2016-17) which likely helped in the organization’s decision to extend the 27-year-old.
Locking Up Competent Vlasic
Along with Jones, the Sharks also locked up defenceman Vlasic signing him to an eight-year, $56-million contract extension. The extension carries and AAV of $7 million per season, according to LeBrun.
Vlasic is headed into the final year of his contract with the team and will receive $4.25 million this season. The extension will kick in for the 2018-19 season and carry through to the 2025-26 season.
The 30-year-old defenceman has spent his entire 11-year career with the Sharks who drafted him in the second round (35th overall) of the 2005 NHL Draft. He made his debut for San Jose in 2006-07 playing 81 games while scoring three goals and 26 points.
Since then, he’s racked up 53 goals and 254 points in 812 career regular season games to go along with a plus-129 rating. He’s also seen 114 games of postseason experience, notching 29 points (three goals and 26 assists) over his career.
While Vlasic tends to fly under the radar at times, he’s more of a defensive-minded player which isn’t as recognized anymore with the likes of Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson in the league. That being said, Vlasic was still 21st among Norris trophy voting this past season.
