Sharks top defenseman Mario Ferraro's name recently has been floating in trade rumors.
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on his "32 Thoughts" podcast that multiple teams are interested in the 25-year-old, including the Carolina Hurricanes who, per Friedman, also pursued Ferraro last season.
"The rumor was Carolina took a run at him and really tried to get him,” Friedman said (h/t San Jose Hockey Now). “He is a really talented young player, a guy who really has a good reputation, is signed for two more years at $3.25 million, and there is going to be a lot of teams checking the price tag on this one.
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“[His contract is] not expensive.”
The Sharks (7-17-2) have had a historically rocky start to the 2023-24 NHL season, which means several players can become available. Yes, even a player with a future as bright as Ferraro's.
If San Jose engages in trade talks for the defenseman, it potentially could get a lot in return for him. And with the way things are going this season, the Sharks certainly could use as many assets as possible for the future.
“Obviously, they knew they were going into a rebuild, but I don’t think they expected it to be like this,” Friedman said. “Now, all of a sudden, they started to play a little bit better. Grier challenged them, they had a big road win the other day in New Jersey — they scored as many goals in that game as they had on the road all year, so that was a big one for them — but they need a lot of help.
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”I think what they are basically saying is, ‘We are going to have to do whatever we can to play the let’s increase our asset game.' Let’s give ourselves more lottery tickets, find more young players. What somebody said to me is, there will be a team, whether it be Carolina or somebody else, that will do it for Ferraro. They will be able to get good assets for him because he is a good player, if that is what they want to do.”
The Sharks will have to weigh their options, of course, and look at the bigger picture of their rebuild before seeing how things play out.