San Jose Sharks acquire defenseman from Minnesota Wild

SAN JOSE – Looking for a puck-moving defenseman who can fit on their top power-play unit, the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday acquired Calen Addison from the Minnesota Wild for AHL winger Adam Raska and a 2026 fifth-round draft pick.

Addison, 23, had five assists in 12 games for the Wild this season and has five goals and 38 points in 92 career NHL games, all with Minnesota. A second-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2018, Addison was averaging just under 17 minutes of ice time per game this season.

Addison would give the Sharks more of a true quarterback on the man advantage as he had been, up until recently, on Minnesota’s top power-play unit. He was third on the Wild this season in overall power play time on ice, averaging 4:12 per game.

The Sharks went 1-for-5 on the power play in their 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, with William Eklund’s second-period goal on a 4-on-3 man advantage proving to be the winner.

The victory was the Sharks’ first of the season after 11 straight defeats. San Jose entered Wednesday with the 17th-ranked power play in the NHL at 18.4 percent (7-for-38). Minnesota’s power play is ranked 23rd at 15.2 percent (7-for-46).

Addison is expected to arrive in San Jose later Wednesday. The Sharks finish their homestand Thursday night against the Edmonton Oilers.

“Calen is a talented young defenseman who sees the ice well and moves the puck well,” Sharks general manager Mike Grier said in a statement. “He is a very good player on the power play, and we are excited to add him to our group.”

There was speculation Wednesday in Minnesota that the Addison deal might portend another transaction. The Sharks have salary cap space and Grier said earlier this week that if another team “needed to clear some space to add a player they want or do something they need to do and it made sense for us, short-term and especially long-term, it’s definitely something we’d look at.”

Addison was traded by the Penguins to the Wild in Feb. 2020 as part of a deal that sent Jason Zucker to Pittsburgh. Addison signed a one-year, $825,000 contract with the Wild in September and per CapFriendly, will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next year.

The Sharks were only carrying 22 players prior to the trade so they do not need to assign anyone to the AHL to make room for Addison on the NHL roster, at least not right now. The Sharks do have three right-shot defensemen on the active roster in Kyle Burroughs, Ty Emberson, and Jan Rutta, with Matt Benning on injured reserve. Benning has resumed skating, although it is not immediately clear when he might be activated.

Raska, 22, was a seventh-round draft pick by the Sharks in 2020 and was in his third full season of pro hockey. The hard-nosed winger played in eight NHL games in his first two seasons, including three late last season. He had 25 points and 178 penalty minutes in 110 AHL games with the Barracuda.