SAN JOSE – Rudolfs Balcers established new career highs with the San Jose Sharks last season in games played, points, and average time on ice.
So it came as a surprise to Balcers to find out in July that the Sharks were placing him on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a buyout, a move that saved the team $1.54 million under this season’s salary cap.
Balcers was about to enter the second year of the two-year, $3.1 million contract he signed with the Sharks in July 2021 and had started to establish himself as a middle-six NHL forward. Without warning, though, he became a player suddenly looking for work.
“It’s not fun. I mean, I didn’t know beforehand. I just kind of found out online or whatever,” Balcers said Wednesday. “It was kind of a (crappy) feeling but it all worked out pretty quick.”
Two days after he was placed on waivers, Balcers on July 14 signed a one-year, $750,000 contract with the Florida Panthers, who play the Sharks at SAP Center on Thursday night.
Prior to Thursday, Balcers, after 10 games, had two goals and an assist as he’s spent time on a line with Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett, among others. Last season, Balcers, who was drafted by the Sharks in 2015, had 23 points in 61 games as he averaged just over 15 minutes per game in ice time.
Tkachuk said after he was traded by Calgary to Florida that he spoke with his younger brother Brady about Balcers, as the two played together for two seasons in Ottawa from 2018 to 2020.
“He’s been great,” Tkachuk said. “I’ve been very impressed with his skill right away. (Brady) spoke very highly of him and the skill that he has.”
Balcers, 25, has been used on both the left and right wings on various lines.
“We’ve liked the fact that we’ve been able to move him around and wherever he goes,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said, “his game doesn’t change.”
Maurice noted that Balcers is among a handful of Panthers players who were cast off by other organizations, a list that includes Bennett (Calgary), Carter Verhaeghe (Tampa Bay), Nick Cousins (Nashville), and Colin White (Ottawa), and defensemen Brandon Montour (Buffalo) and Gus Forsling (Chicago).
“All the players that this team’s built on had come from a place where their career wasn’t where they had hoped it would be and they found chemistry and connection,” in Florida, Maurice said. “Basically our team is built like that, so for Cousins, Balcers, and White, an opportunity to kind of come in and join the party.”
The Sharks used some of the money they saved on Balcers’ contract to sign center Nico Sturm and center Oskar Lindblom as free agents. Sturm’s deal was for three years and $6 million and Lindblom’s was for two years and $5 million.
Sturm entered Thursday as the Sharks’ second-leading goal scorer with five goals and is now on the third line with Nick Bonino and Luke Kunin. Lindblom has three assists in 11 games.
The Sharks entered Thursday with a 3-8-1 record and the Panthers came in at 5-4-1.
“There’s so much skill in the lineup, I’m trying to (play to my) strengths,” Balcers said. “I think I’m pretty fast, have a good shot. So, I try to work on that those things in practice. Just trusting those things and trying to bring that into a game.
“I can’t really say I’m super happy about how’s it been so far. Obviously, the season’s still so fresh. Just looking to improve every day and get better every day.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com