Ty Dellandrea Traded to San Jose Sharks

Ty Dellandrea Traded to San Jose Sharks

The San Jose Sharks are firmly in rebuilding mode. That is most commonly associated with losing games and developing prospects. However, smart teams try to find reclamation projects while in this stage. There are always late bloomers or players who don’t fit with their current club but have talent to give.

Not all of them succeed. For example, these same Sharks tried to do this with players such as Anthony Duclair and Oskar Lindblom, but things didn’t pan out. But the approach did succeed with Mikael Granlund, acquired as a cap dump in the Erik Karlsson trade. Granlund put up 60 points in 69 games in San Jose last season and the Sharks could move him for assets either this offseason or at the 2025 trade deadline.

That is the outcome that general manager Mike Grier and first-year head coach Ryan Warsofsky are hoping for in acquiring Ty Dellandrea from the Dallas Stars. The teams announced the deal on Wednesday afternoon.

While 60 points may be a bridge too far, Dellandrea sorely needed new surroundings. The Stars took Dellandrea 13th overall in the 2018 NHL Draft, and after two productive seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, Dellandrea made his NHL in 2021. He spent most of the next season in the American Hockey League before becoming a regular with the big club in 2022-23. He played all 82 games and 15 of their 19 playoff games, putting up respectable numbers considering he was essentially a rookie.

But things didn’t click this season. He was a frequent healthy scratch, dressing for about half the regular season and just six of 19 playoff contests. He scored just nine regular season points and tallied a single playoff goal. His underlying numbers weren’t spectacular either, although the 23-year-old (who turns 24 on July 21) did show some defensive acumen.

Dellandrea should get an opportunity to be an everyday player again with the Sharks. San Jose currently has eight NHL forwards under contract plus five restricted free agents, one of whom is Dellandrea. AFPAnalytics projects Dellandrea to sign for two years at roughly a $1.4 million cap hit, so he shouldn’t put a significant dent in the team’s $36.37 million salary cap space.

A fourth-round pick isn’t an exorbitant price for a player with the floor of a decent fourth-liner and the ceiling to be something more. San Jose acquired the pick from the Winnipeg Jets at the 2023 trade deadline in exchange for Vladislav Namestikov. They had acquired Namestikov just two days prior from the Tampa Bay Lightning for Michael Eyssimont.

Dellandrea won’t be gifted a lineup spot when training camp begins. But it shouldn’t be too hard to earn. After that, it’s on him to show his potential isn’t gone but just misplaced.

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