Sharks Re-sign Defenseman Nicolas Meloche
Meloche, 23, spent the 2019-20 season with the San Jose Barracuda, appearing in 41 games and recording seven assists with 34 penalty minutes and a plus-one rating.
Prior to joining San Jose, he appeared in 55 games for the Colorado Eagles in 2018-19, recording 21 points (six goals, 15 assists). He finished tied for first among Eagles defensemen in goals and ranked second in points. In 2017-18, he split the season with the San Antonio Rampage and ECHL Colorado Eagles, helping the Eagles capture the Kelly Cup in their final ECHL season before being promoted to the AHL. Meloche appeared in 24 playoff games and collected six points (one goal, five assists).
At the junior level, he spent four seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), accumulating 139 points (45 goals, 94 assists) in 212 games. He appeared in the CHL Top Prospects game in the 2014-15 season and was named to the QMJHL All-Rookie team in 2013-14 with Baie-Comeau Drakkar.
The six-foot-three, 205-pound defenseman was originally selected by Colorado in the second round (40th overall) in the 2015 NHL Draft.
In addition, the Sharks announced that several players in the organization have been assigned to European clubs.
Goaltender Alexei Melnichuk has been loaned to Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The 21-year-old, who signed with San Jose as a free agent on May 4, played 16 games during the 2019-20 season with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL and posted a record of 8-5-1 with a 1.68 goals-against average (GAA), a .930 save percentage (SV%) and four shutouts. He ranked fourth in the KHL in goals-against average and tied for 12th in save percentage.
Center Joel Kellman has been loaned to Kristianstads of the Swedish Allsvenskan league. Kellman, who recently re-signed with the Sharks on Aug. 31, skated in 31 games for the Sharks, posting seven points (three goals, four assists) with four penalty minutes and was a plus-or-even rating in 24 contests. He and Mario Ferraro became the sixth set of Sharks teammates to register their first career goal in the same regular season game when they each scored on Dec. 28, 2019 vs. Philadelphia.
Forward Marcus Sorensen has been loaned to Vita Hästen of the Swedish Allsvenskan league. Sorensen recorded seven goals and 11 assists in 66 games with the Sharks in 2019-20, and ranked fifth among team forwards in hits (56). He played with Djurgardens of the Swedish Hockey League prior to his time with San Jose.
San Jose Barracuda Defenseman Karlis Cukste has been loaned to HC Mogo of the Latvia Optibet Hockey League. The 23-year-old completed his senior season this past spring at NCAA Division I Quinnipiac University, appearing in 34 games for the Bobcats, posting 18 points (four goals, 14 assists), 14 penalty minutes and an even-rating, while wearing an "A" as one of the team's assistant captains.
