Hertl agrees to eight-year contract with Sharks

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Tomas Hertl agreed to an eight-year contract with the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday. Financial terms were not released.

“Tomas has evolved into a premier top-line centerman in the League, competing against the NHL’s best players every single night and delivering significant results,” Sharks assistant general manger Joe Will said. “There are few centermen in the NHL with his combination of physical and dynamic play and he is a player that you build a franchise around. We are fortunate to have two of the League’s top centermen on one team with Tomas and Logan Couture. … We are thrilled to have Tomas for another eight years.”

The 28-year-old forward is in the final season of a four-year contract he signed with San Jose on July 2, 2018, and could have become an unrestricted free agent after the season.

“It’s not often you get this point (free agency), maybe once or twice in life, and you just want to get what you deserve,” Hertl told The Mercury News on Feb. 12. “I think I did a pretty good job the last couple of years proving I can be a top centerman in the League. I’m not like saying anything 100 percent because nothing is ever 100 percent. I’m just saying this is my team now when I’m playing and I’m doing all I can.”

Hertl has scored 48 points (25 goals, 23 assists) in 59 games this season. He is tied with Timo Meier for the Sharks lead in goals and is second behind Meier in points (58).

“Tomas loves being a Shark and we love having Tomas here,” Will said Feb. 10. “So now it’s finding the way to have that happen. It’s through negotiation and talking about the next contract for him, which we have done. … He’s a player that we want as part of our team and we’re going to do everything we can to try and make that happen.”

Selected by the Sharks in the first round (No. 17) of the 2012 NHL Draft, Hertl has scored 371 points (176 goals, 195 assists) in 562 regular-season games and 42 points (24 goals, 18 assists) in 62 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

San Jose (26-25-8) is seventh in the Pacific Division and eight points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. The Sharks play at the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; ESPN+, HULU, NHL LIVE).