Sharks trade Tomas Hertl and Kaapo Kahkonen

At the National Hockey League trade deadline, the San Jose Sharks made two intriguing trades on Friday. First they traded center Tomas Hertl of Praha, Czech Republic to the Vegas Golden Knights with a third round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft and a third round pick in the 2027 NHL Entry Draft for Swedish center prospect David Edstrom, a first round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft and 17% of Hertl’s contract. Then, the Sharks traded goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen of Helsinki, Finland to the New Jersey Devils for goaltender Vitek Vanecek of Havlickuv Brod, Czech Republic and a seventh round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft.

Tomas Hertl

Hertl has played the last 11 seasons with the Sharks. In 2023-24, he had 15 goals and 19 assists for 34 points in 48 games. He was a -26 with 22 penalty minutes, nine power-play points, one shorthanded point, one game-winning goal, 113 shots on goal, 506 faceoff wins, 46 blocked shots, 48 hits, 35 takeaways, and 13 giveaways. Hertl’s shorthanded point came in a 6-5 Sharks win over the Detroit Red Wings on December 7. He scored from William Eklund of Stockholm, Sweden and Jan Rutta of Pisek, Czech Republic at 14:08 of the second period. Hertl’s game-winning goal came in overtime in a 3-2 Sharks win over the New York Rangers on January 23. He scored from Alexander Barabanov of St. Petersburg, Russia and Rutta at 1:29 of the extra period.

Kaapo Kahkonen

Kahkonen is joining his third NHL team. He previously played three seasons with the Minnesota Wild from 2019 to 2022, and three seasons with the San Jose Sharks from 2022 to 2024. In 2023-24, Kahkonen had six wins, 20 regulation losses, and three losses in extra time, with a goals against average of 3.81 and a save percentage of .895.

Vitek Vanecek

Vanecek is joining his third NHL team. He has previously played two seasons each with the Washington Capitals (2020 to 2022), and the New Jersey Devils (2022 to 2024). In 32 games with the Devils, Vanecek has a record of 17 wins, nine regulation losses and three losses in extra time, with a goals against average of 3.18 and a save percentage of .890.