Evgeni Nabokov Traded to Sharks, Reportedly Plans to Retire with San Jose

Evgeni Nabokov is headed back to the San Jose Sharks. For now.   

The Sharks and Tampa Bay Lightning agreed to a trade Monday that will send the 39-year-old goaltender back to his old stomping grounds for as-yet-to-be-announced future considerations.

Chris Johnston of SportsNet reported the deal was completed so Nabokov can retire as a Shark:

Selected No. 219 overall in the 1994 draft, Nabokov spent a decade-and-a-half in the San Jose organization. He was the Sharks' primary goaltender for nine of those years, taking over full time in 2000-01 and emerging as one of the game's best netminders. He won more games than he lost in seven of his nine seasons as the team's starter, also holding a goals against average below 2.5 in seven campaigns.     

Twice named to an All-Star team, Nabokov won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 2001 and was a Vezina Trophy finalist in 2008. He is the franchise record holder for wins (293) and shutouts (50), becoming one of the longest-tenured San Jose players before his departure following the 2009-10 NHL season.

Paul Sakuma/Associated Press

After a brief dalliance with SKA Saint Petersburg in Russia, Nabokov spent three seasons with the New York Islanders, serving mostly in a timeshare. While less effective in New York than San Jose, he was still able to post three straight seasons with more regular-season wins than losses.

The Lightning signed Nabokov last summer as a backup to Ben Bishop. Nabokov posted a 3-6-2 record in 11 appearances but recently lost his second goaltender spot to 20-year-old Andrei Vasilevskiy. Tampa Bay placed him on waivers last Monday, which helped facilitate this deal at minimal costs. 

"He'd seen and done everything," Lightning coach Jon Cooper told reporters. "He's seen things I haven't seen yet. He was helping not only our players—he helped me in areas. He opened your eyes in things. You look at things differently because of his perspective. Ultimately, it's a little bit of a results-based league."

Assuming he does not play another NHL game, Nabokov will finish his career with a 353-227-86 record, per Hockey-Reference.com. He is 18th on the NHL's all-time wins list, 27th in goals against average and 30th in winning percentage, per Quant Hockey.

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