The Sharks and pending unrestricted free agent Mike Brown are working towards a new contract for the forward, a source informed CSNBayArea.com on Tuesday.
The potential new deal, the specifics of which are still unclear, could be announced as early as next week. The Sharks consider Brown “a great teammate,” and would “certainly like to have him back,” according to a team source. Brown would become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
Brown, who turns 29 on June 24, was acquired from the Edmonton Oilers for a fourth round pick in the 2014 draft on Oct. 21, due in part to long term injuries to forwards Adam Burish and Raffi Torres. At the time, general manager Doug Wilson said that the five-foot-11, 202-pound agitator was a player they had been looking at “for about a year and a half.”
Brown skated in 48 games with San Jose after the trade, finishing with two goals and three assists for five points and a -10 rating. His 75 penalty minutes, including 11 fighting majors, were second on the team.
In the 2014 playoffs, Brown played in six of seven games against Los Angeles, ahead of players like Tyler Kennedy (no playoff games) and Marty Havlat (one game). Brown finished with one goal and one assist for two points and 26 penalty minutes.
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Defenseman Scott Hannan, another pending unrestricted free agent, is less likely to return, although he hasn’t been completely written out of the Sharks’ plans just yet.
If Hannan were to suit up for the Sharks again it would likely have to be in a seventh defenseman type role, as San Jose appears committed to playing guys like Matt Tennyson and Taylor Doherty as part of their plan to turn the team over to the younger players and prospects.
