Canada Sports News

Kevin Labanc extended his loyalty to the San Jose Sharks by agreeing to a one-year deal with the franchise from California.

The 23-year old did the unthinkable, and signed an extension worth $1 million, even though he could have gotten a much better deal if he chose to leave the Sharks. Labanc was a restricted free agent, and for sure there were be many teams who would be willing to offer him a much better deal than this one.

But he wanted to stay in San Jose and prove his worth, which would eventually bring him a long-term contract. Not only that, the player explained that he didn’t want to wait and lose time without preparations for the next campaign.

“I didn’t want to wait,” he said. “I wanted to sign the contract, get myself ready for the upcoming year and have nothing hanging over my shoulder.”

Several stars left San Jose this summer. The biggest one is no doubt Joe Pavelski, who moved to Dallas. Joonas Donskoj is in Colorado, while Gustav Nyquist became a Blue Jacket.

Now, this opens a lot of space for Labanc to play and to develop his skills. He was pretty solid during the last year when he collected 56 points, 17 goals, and 39 assists in 82 matches. He was the key piece in San Jose’s miraculous comeback against the Vegas Golden Knights in the game 7 of the Western Conference first round. Labanc scored one goal and had three assists in just five minutes during which the Sharks came back from behind and eliminated the opponent.

His role is getting bigger and bigger as each year passes by, and knowing that Joe Thornton still didn’t come back to the team, it is very possible that Labanc becomes one of the leaders of this team.

“There’s going to be a lot of minutes. When guys leave it’s an opportunity for guys like me to step up and prove I am that type of player who can play a top-six role.”

He also explained the decision to take just one million dollars for his signature. The main reason was the franchise’s salary cap space, which wasn’t that great at the moment. Sharks’ right-winger knows that if he asked for more money, potential signings needed to attack the Stanley Cup wouldn’t be possible.

That is why he lowered his demands. It is something rarely seen in any of the sports, especially for a young guy like him.

“I didn’t want to take away most of that cap (space) and lose one or two guys that could potentially be on the team, that Doug Wilson would want.”

The Sharks reached the Western Conference finals last season, and were eliminated by the St. Louis Blues in six games. They were very near to reaching the finals for the second time in their history, first following 2016 when Pittsburgh Steelers prevented them from winning the title.

With a partial reconstruction, San Jose is now entering a new era of their existence.