{"id":3289,"date":"2026-06-29T05:07:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T05:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3289"},"modified":"2026-06-29T05:07:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T05:07:10","slug":"sharks-sign-recently-acquired-defenseman-to-three-year-13-5-million-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3289","title":{"rendered":"Sharks sign recently acquired defenseman to three-year, $13.5 million deal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SAN JOSE \u2013 The Sharks have signed pending restricted free agent defenseman Michael Kesselring to a three-year, $13.5 million contract that runs through the 2028-29 season, Bay Area News Group has confirmed.<\/p>\n

Read more Valkyries instant analysis: Golden State crushes New York Liberty as defense shuts down Sabrina Ionescu<\/a><\/p>\n

The contract, which was first reported by PuckPedia on Sunday, carries an average annual value of $4.5 million and does not include trade protection.<\/p>\n

The Sharks on June 17 acquired Kesselring, 26, and the 27th overall pick in this past weekend\u2019s draft for the 20th overall selection. The Sharks then packaged the 27th pick and two later selections to move up to No. 21, where they took WHL defenseman Ryan Lin.<\/p>\n

With the Sabres this past season, Kesselring had just two points in 34 regular-season games as he battled injuries early in the season and was often a healthy scratch later in the season and into the playoffs.<\/p>\n

The Sharks are hoping to get the version of Kesselring who played with the Mammoth in 2024-25. In 82 games with Utah that season, Kesselring had 29 points and averaged 17:41 in ice time per game.<\/p>\n

Read more Three-alarm fire burns two houses in Castro Valley<\/a><\/p>\n

From 2023 to 2025 with Utah and the Arizona Coyotes, Kesselring, a right shot, had a combined 50 points in 147 games and was credited with 196 hits and 126 blocked shots.<\/p>\n

As of now, the Sharks have three defensemen with notable NHL experience signed for next season in Kesselring, Dmitry Orlov, and Sam Dickinson, with Shakir Mukhamadullin a pending restricted free agent. The Sharks and Mukhamadullin\u2019s camp are slated to talk again sometime this week. Luca Cagnoni is also signed for next season, but he\u2019s played just nine career NHL games.<\/p>\n

Other defensemen who played for the Sharks this past season, Mario Ferraro, Vincent Desharnais, Nick Leddy, and John Klingberg, are all pending unrestricted free agents. The first day of free agency is Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Read more Robbie Ray leads SF Giants over Atlanta for first winning homestand since April<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

San Jose Sharks sign pending RFA defenseman Michael Kesselring to a three-year, $13.5 million contract<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nSharks sign recently acquired defenseman to three-year, $13.5 million deal - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3289\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sharks sign recently acquired defenseman to three-year, $13.5 million deal - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"San Jose Sharks sign pending RFA defenseman Michael Kesselring to a three-year, $13.5 million contract\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3289\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-29T05:07:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3289#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3289\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Sharks sign recently acquired defenseman to three-year, $13.5 million deal\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-29T05:07:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3289\"},\"wordCount\":339,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3289#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/102f9bbec9cad855b869afaf81f6bc62.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3289#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3289\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3289\",\"name\":\"Sharks sign recently acquired defenseman to three-year, $13.5 million deal - 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