NHL fans react to shocking admission made by outgoing Sharks player Martin Kaut - "If any of this is true, McCarthy should be shown the door"

Martin Kaut recently announced that he will no longer be a part of the San Jose Sharks organization. The reasons given by Kaut for leaving San Jose have prompted fans to point fingers at the organization.

Kaut played for the San Jose Barracuda, a Sharks affiliate in the AHL. During the 2022-23 season, the 23-year-old Czech native appeared in nine games for the San Jose Sharks.

According to reports, during Kaut's time in the AHL with the Barracuda, coaches forced him to fight during games. He also stated that one of his coaches at Barracuda asked him to fight Adam Klapka, who is 6-foot-8 and 236 lbs, which put him at an obvious disadvantage.

Reacting to the reports, fans shared their opinions on Twitter:

The San Jose Sharks issued a statement in response to Martin Kaut's comments

Following Martin Kaut's comments, the Sharks issued a statement. They said that neither the Sharks nor the Barracuda coaching or hockey staff put any pressure on players to engage in physical fights:

“We have been made aware of comments attributed to Martin Kaut stating that he was pressured to deliberately instigate a physical engagement with opposing players on the ice. Let us be unequivocally clear that no such direction was ever given or insinuated by the members of the Sharks or Barracuda coaching or hockey staffs.”

Kaut was the 16th overall pick for the Colorado Avalanche in the 2018 NHL draft. He made his league debut during the 2019-20 season appearing in nine games. The 23-year-old had a stint of four seasons with the Avalanche. But he never played a full season with them.

On January 25, 2023, Kaut was tarded to the San Jose Sharks where he appeared in 9 games, garnering five points (3 goals and 2 assists). Martin Kaut played 36 games in his NHL career and accumulated eight points ( four goals and four assists).

Kaut will now head back to his native Czech Republic, where he'll play for HC Dynamo Pardubice in the Czech Extraliga.