Sharks Assign McLaren to Minors

The San Jose Sharks assigned veteran defenseman Kyle McLaren to their AHL affiliate in Worcester on Wednesday after he cleared waivers. The oft-injured McLaren, who has played 4 seasons with the Sharks, was sent to the minors to clear salary cap space. He was set to make $2.5 million this season. After acquiring blueliners Rob Blake, Dan Boyle, and Brad Lukowich, plus the emergence of youngsters Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Christian Ehrhoff, and Doug Murray, McLaren had become expendable to the team, who had tried to trade him during the off-season with no success. If McLaren refuses to report to the minors, he could be suspended. There has been no word yet if he will accept or decline the demotion. The Sharks do lose some toughness to their blueline with the demotion of McLaren, but the rising skills of young stars and their free agent acquisitions on defense made it obvious his time with the team was limited. The Sharks still have plenty of toughness on defense without McLaren, so it's likely they won't miss his presence. His injury history and high salary will make it difficult to trade McLaren, so he will likely play most of the season in the minors, unless there's an injury on the Sharks' blueline. McLaren is an unrestricted free agent next summer, so it's possible his NHL career is now coming to an end.