SAN JOSE — Perhaps Kevin Labanc’s importance to the San Jose Sharks has never been greater than it is right now.
Not only will Labanc be counted on to produce at a high level, but as someone projected to play on one of the Sharks’ top two lines next season, he’ll also have to improve his two-way game as he skates regularly against elite NHL forwards.
“I know I’m a top six forward in this league,” Labanc, 24, said Saturday. “I know I can produce. I know I can be reliable defensively.”
The Sharks showed their faith in Labanc, signing him to four-year contract extension worth a reported $18.9 million. His deal’s average annual value of $4.725 million is the fifth-highest among all Sharks forwards, behind captain Logan Couture ($8 million), Evander Kane ($7 million), Timo Meier ($6 million) and Tomas Hertl ($5.625 million).
Labanc’s deal is back-loaded, with $11.75 million paid out over the last two years, according to Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic. Labanc was also arbitration eligible, and the contract, which takes Labanc to unrestricted free agency, avoids what could have been a drawn-out process.
“We made sure we structured this contract so that (Labanc) grows into it,” Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said. “But there’s no doubt in our mind that he’s a 60-point-plus guy going forward for the next four years, and that’s what makes this deal to me very fair.”
Labanc had 17 goals and 56 points during the 2018-19 season, the final year of his entry level contract. He then signed a team-friendly one-year, $1 million deal last offseason, betting on himself that he could have another productive year and sign a more lucrative pact this year.
The production part didn’t quite happen, as Labanc finished with 33 points in 70 games and a plus-minus rating of -33, tied for fifth-worst in the NHL. Labanc had one point in the Sharks’ last nine regular season games, and scored just one goal in San Jose’s last 15 games
At one point in late December, then-interim coach Bob Boughner thought about benching Labanc after a substandard effort in a Sharks loss to the Los Angeles Kings. But Labanc and the Sharks rebounded the following game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
“I’ve talked to (Boughner) and I think that he sees me as a top-six guy. I see myself as a top-six guy,” Labanc said. “I’ve got to make sure that I fulfill that role and make sure I’m putting the puck in the back of the net, but also I’m not giving up chances my own way.”
Wilson didn’t outright say Labanc’s new contract was a thank-you for being so flexible last season, but added, “you want players to understand how the system works. Do you remember it? Yes, of course you do. We’ve done bridge deals over the years with a lot of our young players that have come though the system. Now you have to negotiate a contract going forward.”
While Labanc gambled on himself in 2019, Wilson, too, is betting that the New York City native wasn’t just a one-year wonder.
“This deal is about the ingredients he has going forward,” said Wilson, who later added that, “you’re going to see us play a more attacking style that fits right into his wheelhouse. If I’m going to try and acquire players like (Labanc), that’s the type of ingredient I’m looking for. He’s shown us what he can do.”
Labanc, 24, has 149 points in 284 regular season games over four seasons with the Sharks. Chances are he’ll start next season on the right side of either Couture or Hertl on the top six forward group.
Labanc will again be an important fixture on the Sharks’ power play that ranked 23rd in the NHL last season at 17.5 percent. Associate coach Rocky Thompson will coordinate the power play.
Wilson said the Sharks have the potential for “the best power play in hockey.” Two years ago in Erik Karlsson’s first year in San Jose, the Sharks’ power play with Joe Pavelski was sixth-best in the NHL at 23.7 percent.
“We have the ingredients,” he said. “We now have to approach it with a structure that both Rocky and (Boughner) are working on.”
The Sharks now have $2.99 million left in projected cap space with 22 players on the roster — 14 forwards, six defensemen and two goalies. Some of those forwards like Lean Bergman, Antti Suomela and Alex True are on two-way contracts and can be sent down in case Wilson re-signs Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton for next season.
On the Sharks’ right wing depth chart, the Sharks have Labanc, Stefan Noesen, Dylan Gambrell, Noah Gregor and potentially Ryan Donato if coach Bob Boughner opts to put him on his off-side.
If that’s the case, Donato would be perhaps the other right wing in the top six forward group.
