The June 1st deadline to sign prospects drafted from the CHL in 2021 is fast approaching and while many players unsigned at this point are likely going to be let go, not every team has made a final decision about whether they’ll be signing their players. That appears to be the case in San Jose as GM Mike Grier told reporters including Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Twitter link) that they’ve yet to decide if they’ll sign goalie prospect Benjamin Gaudreau. A final decision will be made in consultation with Director of Goaltending Evgeni Nabokov and Goalie Coach Thomas Speer over the next couple of weeks.
The 20-year-old was a third-round pick (81st overall) back in 2021 and has spent his entire major junior career with OHL Sarnia, becoming their clear starter over the last two years. Gaudreau played in 44 games with the Sting this season, posting a 3.07 GAA and a .889 SV%, ranking him ninth and 20th league-wide, respectively. Gaudreau was also named to Canada’s team for the World Juniors; he got into a pair of games but posted a .828 SV% in those appearances.
On the surface, Gaudreau’s numbers, while not the strongest, are good enough to typically earn an entry-level deal. However, San Jose will have two other prospects vying for playing time in the minors next season in Magnus Chrona and Georgi Romanov while it’s likely that they’ll want to re-sign prospect Eetu Makiniemi as well. That doesn’t leave much room for someone like Gaudreau to come in and get some playing time. If they decide that they aren’t going to sign him, the Sharks could be able to flip Gaudreau’s rights for a late-round pick to at least get some value from that selection.