San Jose Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro re-signs with the team to a four-year contract with $13 million or $3.25 million AAV. The deal carries through the 2025-26 season.
FOUR MORE YEARS OF SUPER MARIO 🍄
More: https://t.co/xSaQ2mrhrw pic.twitter.com/a8fWpxuUCI
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) August 4, 2022
Sharks Mario Ferraro Re-Signs
The 23-year-old Ferraro is coming off a strong showing with the Sharks. While two goals and 14 points for the season are not going to impress, Ferraro is much more of a stay-at-home defenseman. He led the team in blocked shots (151) and finished third in hits (140). Before his injury in February, he was ninth in the NHL in blocks-per-60 (6.25) and he was third in blocked shots with 127.
Over the course of his NHL career, Ferraro has recorded 42 points (five goals, 37 assists) in 180 games. Since his debut in 2019-20, he leads Sharks skaters in hits (415), ranks second in blocked shots (305) and in blocks-per-60 (4.98, minimum 50 games).
The Toronto native was selected in the second round (49th overall) of the 2017 NHL Entry draft.
What This Means Moving Forward
New Sharks GM Mike Grier views Ferraro as a big part of the Sharks moving forward. Ferraro already has a solid start to his NHL career and it seems the Sharks believe he will continue to develop into a top shutdown defenceman.
“Mario has shown that he is a dynamic and reliable defenseman for our club, skating top-level minutes against the best competition every night and delivering solid results,” said Grier. “His energy and work ethic are the reason why he has achieved so much in the early part of his career, and we look forward to watching him continue to grow and elevate his role on the team.”
This was a tidy bit of business for the Sharks as they need to get younger and Ferraro seems to be part of their long-term plans.
Despite the signing, the Sharks are still a team very much in transition. They missed the playoffs for the third consecutive year and have an older roster of players signed to big contracts. The Sharks already started turning over their roster. They had to shed the salary of long-time defenceman Brent Burns earlier in the off-season to create some cap space but still have more work to do to become cap compliant.
The San Jose Sharks have signed defenseman Mario Ferraro to a four-year contract extension: https://t.co/5EWVDtw21g
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) August 4, 2022
