SAN JOSE — The San Jose Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association announced today that San Jose Sharks forward Justin Bailey has been selected as a 2024 candidate for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.
The Masterton Trophy is awarded each season under the authority of the PHWA to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
Since signing a two-way contract with the Sharks on Nov. 27, Bailey, 28, has been in the lineup for every game the team has played. So far in the 2023-24 season, Bailey has played in 54 games, recording 14 points (five goals, nine assists).
Bailey’s perseverance was evident throughout his hockey journey.
The 6-foot-4, 214-pound Bailey split time between the AHL and NHL for the first eight years of his professional career, and he was unsigned to begin this season. After Bailey spent last season in the AHL with the Bakersfield Condors following two shoulder surgeries, the Sharks invited him to training camp as part of a professional tryout deal.
“The key elements of my game are my speed, my size and my physicality,” Bailey said. “So I knew coming into camp — whether they knew me or not — I wanted to make a name for myself from day one.”
Bailey, a Buffalo, N.Y., native, earned an AHL contract with San Jose after a strong camp that included one goal in three preseason games. In 16 AHL games, Bailey led the Barracudas with six goals and was second on the team with 11 points, impressive enough to sign a two-way deal with the Sharks just over six weeks later.
The Sharks are Bailey’s fourth NHL team, as he also played games with the Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers and Vancouver Canucks. He also played for six AHL teams.
“That’s one thing I really appreciate about this organization,” Bailey said. “I’ve been to a lot of places where they don’t necessarily always see their minor league players playing, and I feel like here with the Sharks, everything being in the same area, with (general manager Mike Grier) and guys like that in training, in matches, it’s a little extra motivation.
This season with the Sharks, Bailey has only received six penalty minutes, which places him tied for the team’s skaters who have played at least 12 games.
Before turning professional, Bailey played four years in the Ontario Hockey League with the Kitchener Rangers and Soo Greyhounds. He was drafted by the Sabers in the second round, 52nd overall, in 2013.
Bailey, who is biracial, experienced racism as a teenager and offers support to children who have had similar experiences.
“The older you get, the more you realize that the things you experienced as a child aren’t really the way they should be,” Bailey said, “and the more you want to step in and do whatever you can to help.”
The Masterton Trophy winner is selected from a survey of all 32 PHWA chapters at the end of the regular season and a $2,500 PHWA grant is awarded annually to the Bill Masterton Scholarship Fund, based in Bloomington , Minnesota, on behalf of the winner.
The PHWA first presented the Masterton Trophy in 1968 to commemorate the late Bill Masterton, a player for the Minnesota North Stars, who demonstrated, to a high degree, qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication at hockey. Masterton died on January 15, 1968 from an injury suffered during a match.
The three finalists for the Masterton Trophy will be announced at a later date.
Former Shark Tony Granato received the award in 1997. The Sharks’ previous finalists for the award were Patrick Marleau in 2020-21, Joe Thornton in 2018-19 and Jed Ortmeyer in 2009-10.
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