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Sharks, Demers avoid arbitration with two-year, $6.8M deal

jasondemersgetty

Jason Demers has been rewarded for his banner campaign.

Demers, who led all Sharks defensemen with a career-high 29 assists last year, has avoided salary arbitration by inking a two-year, $6.8 million extension with San Jose, the club announced on Wednesday.

“Jason has been a solid, offensive defenseman and is coming off a good season,” Sharks GM Doug Wilson said in a statement. “His skill set and his age mesh well within our overall group and we’re happy to have him signed for two more years.”

Demers, 26, has spent his entire career in the Bay Area and is one of the club’s better success stories -- a seventh-round pick at the ’08 Draft, Demers was named the Sharks’ rookie of the year in 2009-10 and has steadily grown into one of their most valuable rearguards, averaging nearly 20 minutes per game last season.

In related news, San Jose also re-upped with another RFA defenseman on Wednesday -- Taylor Doherty, the team’s second-round pick (57th overall) at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Doherty, 23, has yet to make his NHL debut (spending his entire professional career with AHL Worcester), but Wilson suggested that next year could be one in which Doherty cracks the bigs.

“Taylor is a big body who has developed his game over the last several years,” said Wilson. “We look forward to watching him compete to make our club this coming season.”