The Sharks have reached an agreement on an extension with pending free agent winger Kiefer Sherwood. The deal is a 5-year, 28.75 million contract with a 5.75 million dollar AAV.
The #SJSharks signed 30 y/o F Kiefer Sherwood to a 5 year $5.75M extension
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) March 4, 2026
Yr 1 & 2: $4.5M Salary, $2.5M Signing Bonus
Yr 3: $4.15M, $2M
Yr 4: $2.4M, $2M
Yr 5: $4.2M
Yr 1: NTC, Yr 2: 16 NTC, Yr 3: 13 NTC, Yr 4: 10 NTC, Yr 5: 5 NTC
Rep'd by Judd Moldaver @wassermanhockey…
Sherwood was reportedly seeking 30 million dollars on his next contract; he will fall just short of that, landing 28.75 million from the Sharks over the next 5 years. This is the largest contract Grier has handed out to a player in his tenure as GM, beating out Tyler Toffoli's 4-year, $ 24 million deal signed a couple of summers ago.
Term has been something Grier and the Sharks have hesitated to give to players in the past, but Sherwood's status as a pending UFA gives him a lot of leverage in negotiations, on top of it being a relatively weak free agent class. Sherwood was getting paid whether the Sharks decided to pay up or not.
The Sharks saw firsthand what Sherwood brings to the lineup the other night. Sherwood was all over the ice against the Habs, playing physical, getting under the opponent's skin, while chipping in offensively with an assist, and scoring the game-winning goal late in the 3rd period. If Sherwood can do that consistently, he will be more than worth the price tag. That's the biggest question; however, Sherwood does not have a long track record of being an effective scorer, having hit 40 points once in his career, and at 31, it's unrealistic to expect the late bloomer to continue improving given his physical style of play.
The Sharks will take the bet that he can keep it up at least for the next few years. If the deal does go south, Sherwood will have limited trade protection in the final two years of the deal, and the deal is frontloaded, making it more buyout-friendly.
With Sherwood out of the way for the Sharks, their full attention should now turn to figuring out what they are going to do with their blueline. The Sharks are actively looking to both shop their pending UFA blueliners while adding to their backend. Their biggest chip available is Mario Ferraro, who will likely be a name to watch in the coming days.