The Sharks are on the verge of making their first major offseason move, as of Dave Pratt of TSN 1040 in Vancouver said Friday morning that Kevin Bieksa is on his way to San Jose. Pratt is a longtime sports personality in Vancouver.
UPDATE: Pratt qualifies it a bit, just saying a couple minutes ago that Bieksa-to-San Jose "is close."
No trade has been officially announced and Pratt did not have any other details, but everything points to Bieksa joining the Sharks for next season and possibly longer. TSN's Darren Dreger tweeted Friday "Sounds like Sharks are happy to extend Bieksa's contract. Good fit for him and family. Sharks and Canucks still working on details of trade."
Pratt said there were other suitors for Bieksa, who had a full no trade clause. But the Sharks' willingness to offer an extension was what led Bieksa to waive his NTC.
Bieksa, due to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, comes with a $4.6 million cap hit this season. But the Sharks have over $17.6 million in salary cap space for this season and general manager Doug Wilson told reporters last week that owner Hasso Plattner has given permission to spend to the $71.4 million cap. Wilson added that by stockpiling extra draft picks in deals that have sent veterans elsewhere over the past three seasons, Wilson says his team has the "currency" to work trade opportunities with other organizations.
Bieksa has been with the Canucks for his entire 10-year NHL career, and with the organization for 14 years, but Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet tweeted early Friday that "Word today is Kevin Bieksa has informed VAN he would accept a trade to SJ. Now up to the teams to work out a deal."
The Sharks had a need on defense, as Scott Hannan is not being brought back for another season and Matt Irwin is slated to become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
Although he has never been a top-end point producer on defense, the 34-year-old Bieksa, known more for his physicality and competitive edge in his career, is coming off a season in which he had just four goals and 10 assists as he averaged 20:50 of ice time in 60 games. Bieksa broke his left hand in January as he blocked a shot and missed nearly two months.
Bieksa was responsible for one of the Sharks' most heartbreaking playoff moments under former coach Todd McLellan. In double overtime of Game 5 of the 2011 Western Conference finals, an Alex Edler pass that was intended for the Sharks' corner instead ricocheted off a stanchion right to Bieksa. With most unaware of the puck's whereabouts, Bieksa's slap shot got past Niemi for the series-clinching goal and a 3-2 Canucks win.
Two seasons later, the outspoken Bieksa was involved in a playoff dustup with the Sharks. The day after Game 3 of what would be four-game sweep by San Jose, Bieksa accused Joe Thornton and Logan Couture of embellishing plays to draw penalties. The Sharks had scored three power play goals the night before.
"Couture, you can't go near the guy," Bieksa said. "He snaps his head back. He flails. You touch him after the whistle, and he's going to jump off the ice and throw himself into the glass. And those are hard calls for the officials to make, and now they're going against us.
"Thornton, another so-called Canadian, supposed to play the game with integrity, gets slashed and takes his glove off and shakes his hand. Referee takes a couple seconds to look at that and make a call, and that's an important part of the game. That's a critical time of the game where we go down two men, and these are two guys that are supposed to be playing the game with integrity."
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