Sharks center and restricted free agent Chris Tierney has signed a one-year contract extension with the club.
The deal, originally reported by TVA's Renaud Lavoie and confirmed by NBC Sports California, is worth $735,000 which was Tierney's qualifying offer. The 23-year-old center did not have arbitration rights, so his bargaining power was limited.
On its face the deal seems like a good one for the Sharks, who locked up their fourth line center that posted 23 points (11g, 12a) in 80 games last season to a cheap salary. In three seasons, all with San Jose, Tierney has 64 points (24g, 40a) in 202 games. He's added five goals and five assists for 10 points in 30 playoff games.
Still, it's notable that the Sharks - according to a source - did not offer Tierney anything other than a one-year deal for his qualifying offer. In comparable deals in Dallas, Brett Ritchie, who has 34 points (22g, 12a) in 117 games over three seasons, recently signed a two-year, $3.5 million extension (although Ritchie did have arbitration rights). Radek Faksa, who did not have arbitration rights and has 45 points (12g, 21a) in 125 career games, signed a three-year, $6.6 million contract on Monday.
The Sharks somewhat unexpectedly re-signed center Ryan Carpenter earlier in the offseason, leading some to question Tierney's future in San Jose. A one-year deal at essentially the smallest salary possible will do nothing to quell the trade talk that has encircled Tierney ever since Carpenter inked a two-year, $1.3 million contract on June 17.
Sharks coach Pete DeBoer indicated after the season that he was hopeful certain players, including Tierney, would "step up" and do more in 2017-18.
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"I think we've got a large group of guys that I like, but need to step up. Is [Marcus] Sorensen [like Joonas] Donskoi next year where he takes a step back, or a step forward? We've got a lot of guys that there's a lot of potential there – Chris Tierney. There's a lot of those guys, but they need to have big summers and take a step and show that they're not just one season or one month players."
The Sharks have two other restricted free agents in Sorensen and Barclay Goodrow. The deadline for players to accept their qualifying offers is July 15.
