NHL Free Agency Rumors: David Schlemko signs four-year deal with San Jose Sharks

According to Pierre LeBrun, the San Jose Sharks have agreed to terms with free agent defenseman David Schlemko on a four year deal.

The San Jose Sharks went into the offseason needing to replace trade deadline acquisition Roman Polak in their blue line. They didn’t have much cap space to work with, but they have found a solid replacement.

According to Pierre LeBrun, the Sharks have signed free agent defenseman David Schlemko to a four-year deal.

As LeBrun noted, that’s a $2.1 million cap hit for Schlemko. He’s an extremely underrated player. Players like Schlemko who aren’t point producers have been a bit of a market inefficiency as of late. He moves the puck very well and is one of the most responsible defenseman in his own zone. Schlemko can be trusted to play big minutes if needed, but is best utilized as a second or third pairing defenseman. With the Sharks, he will most likely be on their third pairing.

Schlemko had a career-high 19 points in 67 games during the 2015-16 after signing a cheap one-year deal with the New Jersey Devils. He averaged 18:39 of ice time for them with an even strength shot attempt differential percentage of 49.1 percent. The Devils saw a 4.2 percent increase in shot attempts for while he was on the ice. San Jose is an excellent puck possession team, so they clearly value what Schlemko brings to the table.

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