The top defenseman on the free-agent market is now officially off it. Erik Karlsson has signed a 8-year extension with the San Jose Sharks worth about $11.5 million per season. This makes Karlsson the third highest paid player in the NHL behind Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews. Yeah it kinda sucks that Karlsson will not test the free-agency market, but getting to see Brett Burns and Karlsson play together for years to come will makeup for the lack of excitement now.

This is a huge re-signing for San Jose. Doug Wilson, the GM of the Sharks, has now locked up Burns, Vlasic, and Karlsson for at least another 6 seasons together. Having a strong top-four on defense is one of the keys to having a Stanley Cup caliber team and the Sharks arguably now have the best for years to come. With the defense now set, it will be interesting what Doug Wilson does with the offense this offseason. Will he re-sign Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski? Will he aim to add youth? A lot of questions still loom for the San Jose team…

One question that will remain for the life of the Karlsson contract: is it worth the risk amid constant health concerns? This is a lot of money for a player whose most productive and healthiest seasons may very well be behind him already, but a player of his caliber doesn’t come around often. For the Sharks, $11.5 million to Karlsson is that much less that can be used to build the rest of their roster, but a team with Erik Karlsson is unquestionably better than a team without him. It will come down to how Wilson can build around him but some big changes are definitely on the horizon for San Jose.

With Karlsson off the board the top unrestricted free-agents that are still in play are Duchene, Bobrovsky, Duchene, Anders Lee, Tyler Myers, and Joe Pavelski, just to name a few. Those are still some big names, for entertainment purposes let’s hope these players don’t sign before July 1st!

Update:

No words…Literally none…