Demers Agrees To 2-Year Deal; Team Close To Signing Setoguchi

Jul 29 6:13p by James Brady

CapGeek.com is showing that the San Jose Sharks have reached a two-year deal with Jason Demers. The deal is for $1.25MM per year, which feels like a good price for a player going into his second year of NHL play. The defenseman played well last year, and may play into a bigger role this coming season as the Sharks look for help on D.

Fear The Fin has a couple quick notes:

A good contract for a good young offensive defenseman that could turn out to be Dan Boyle's replacement. Phenomenal on the power play, and with a full year in the NHL under his belt, hopefully the defensive responsibility will come along as well.

In other news, the Sharks have started talks with Joe Thornton on an extension. Thornton is a fan-favorite and a solid contributor to the team, after bringing back Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski, Thornton is another logical piece.

"The onus is on us to make this a place guys want to play and stay at," Wilson said. "The group of players that we have, that have complemented us as an organization, that's something we hope to continue."

To keep the news rolling, the team is also reportedly close to getting a short-term deal done with Devin Setoguchi, SportingNews reports. Setoguchi got hot in the playoffs, sinking five goals to go on top of his 20 goals for the season.

A short term contract isn't foreign to the Sharks, who have been adamant in signing younger players to shorter deals. Setoguchi especially has shown flashes of great hockey in between spans of doing his best disappearing act. The team is confident that a deal will get done within a week. Setoguchi's agent echoes the sentiments to SportingNews:

"A kid like him doesn't mind rolling the dice on a short-term deal," agent Paul Krepelka told Sporting News. "I'm optimistic we'll get something done."