SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks hoped they accomplished two things at once Thursday when they added veterans Dmitry Orlov and Nick Leddy to their revamped roster: addressing the shortcomings on defense and increasing the competition for ice time on a suddenly crowded blue line.

The Sharks continued what’s been a busy week as they signed free agent Orlov to a two-year, $13 million contract and claimed Leddy off waivers from the St. Louis Blues. And general manager Mike Grier hinted that he might not yet be done molding the roster.

With salary cap space to burn, the Sharks made Orlov, perhaps the most high-profile defenseman left on the free agent market, their highest-paid defenseman. They also added another veteran in Leddy, who has one year left on his four-year, $16 million deal. Leddy is still owed $3 million in salary.

The acquisitions come two days after the Sharks signed another veteran defenseman in John Klingberg to a one-year, $4 million contract. San Jose this week also signed forwards Philipp Kurashev and Adam Gaudette, and traded for goalie Alex Nedeljkovic.

“We were always going to try and look to make the team better if we could,” Grier said Thursday. “These were some things that came up (Wednesday), and just looking at our group and talking with coaches, we just feel like today we’re a better hockey team.”

Orlov, who turns 34 later this month, had played with the Carolina Hurricanes for the last two years and is entering his 14th NHL season. Orlov, with 327 points in 867 career NHL games, wasn’t initially thought to be a fit with the building Sharks, but Grier said a change of scenery could help rejuvenate him.

“I think people are just excited about what we’re building here and the direction the team’s going,” Grier said.

The 5-foot-11, 214-pound Orlov had 28 points in 76 games last season as he averaged 20 minutes of ice time. He’s been a solid puck mover throughout his career, which includes a Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals in 2018.

Last year with the Hurricanes, Orlov played mainly on the second pair and was one of the team’s leading penalty killers. He had his struggles in the playoffs, though, especially in the Eastern Conference final against the Florida Panthers.

The 34-year-old Leddy, who will be entering his 16th NHL season, has 416 points in 1,046 career NHL games. Last season with the Blues, Leddy dealt with an undisclosed injury and played in just 31 games while averaging 18:40 in ice time. He could play a third-pair role in San Jose.

“The back end was something that was, for me, priority one to address and try and get better,” Grier said. “I think we’ve done that, not only with these two guys today, but with adding Klingberg (on Tuesday).”

The cap-strapped Blues waived Leddy on Wednesday, a day after acquiring defenseman Logan Mailloux from the Montreal Canadiens. As the NHL’s last-place team in 2024-25, the Sharks had first dibs on bringing in Leddy.

“He’s a good veteran (defenseman),” Grier said of Leddy, who won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013. “St. Louis is trying to do some things; they’re up against the cap a little bit. So, sometimes, those are kind of the consequences of that. And we lucked out. We really like the player.”

With the additions of Orlov and Leddy, the Sharks, per PuckPedia, now have exceeded the salary cap floor of $70.6 million and still have $23 million in cap space under the $95.5 million upper limit with 22 players on their active roster.

Before the free agency period began on Tuesday, the Sharks desperately needed to upgrade a predominantly young defense corps after trading veterans Jake Walman and Cody Ceci earlier this year. They also didn’t bring back Jan Rutta, who remains a free agent.

This week’s additions could help the Sharks win more close games. Last year, they went 12-15-12 in one-goal games and had a less-than-stellar record of 12-8-5 when leading after two periods, ultimately finishing with an NHL-worst record of 20-50-12. The Sharks also allowed 203 goals during 5-on-5 play this past season, the second-highest total in the NHL.

The move also leaves the Sharks with eight defensemen on one-way contracts, including a glut on the left side. Along with Orlov and Leddy, other left-shot defensemen on the Sharks roster include Mario Ferraro, Henry Thrun and Shakir Mukhamadullin. Right-shot defensemen include Timothy Liljegren, Vincent Desharnais, and Klingberg.

Whether the additions of Orlov and Leddy portend a trade is unclear. Assuming all eight defensemen on one-way deals are healthy to start the season, the Sharks could keep all on the NHL roster and start the year with 13 forwards, along with goalies Yaroslav Askarov and Nedeljkovic.

“Competition is very important,” Grier said. “I think each year we’ve kind of increased the competition level of the group. This year it’ll be very high again, and that’s what it’s like in sports, not just hockey. You’ve got to earn your ice time, you’ve got to earn your roster spot, and we’re starting to get to that point where nothing’s going to be given to anyone.”

Whether some of the players who were at this week’s development camp can realistically compete for NHL jobs is unclear. But more moves might be on the way.

“We could probably use a top-nine winger, if and when something like that comes available,” Grier said. “But if not, then, we’re more than happy to kind of let it play out and see what happens the rest of the summer, and then see where the kids are when camp starts.”