KARLSSON TRADE CREATES ANOTHER NHL SUPER TEAM.
EMOTIONAL KARLSSON SHIPPED TO SAN JOSE
The captain’s ship has sailed in the nation’s capital. As the Ottawa Senators officially opened training camp Thursday at Canadian Tire Centre, two-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson showed up to pack his bags. Months of speculation finally ended when he was shown the way to San Jose in a massive deal with the Sharks that could bring the club as many as eight assets.
While talks to deal Karlsson first started before last February’s trade deadline and heated up around the opening of free agency on July 1, it wasn’t until Thursday that general manager Pierre Dorion pulled the trigger on a trade. The deal went down about 2:30 p.m., with Karlsson and minorleague forward Francis Perron being shipped to the Sharks.
In return, the Senators will get a first-round pick in 2019 or 2020, centre Chris Tierney, a secondround pick in 2019 (the best of the two San Jose currently has), prospect centre Josh Norris, prospect Rudolfs Balcers, and defenceman Dylan DeMelo.
The Senators will also receive a second-round pick in 2021 or a first-round pick. If the Sharks sign Karlsson or if they reach the Stanley Cup final, it will automatically become a first-rounder. The Senators are also protected if Karlsson is dealt at the deadline this season by receiving San Jose’s top pick in 2021 or 2022.
In the end, the Senators felt this was the right move at the right time. With the club moving into a full rebuild, Dorion felt he could get good return for Karlsson and, after the star defenceman turned down an eight-year deal believed to be worth US$88 million on July 1, the reality was this was going to happen.
“These things are never easy,” Dorion said. “We know we’re in a rebuild now and we know this is the best thing in the plan for us to have success in the rebuild. We felt that now is the time to trade Erik Karlsson.”
Karlsson didn’t take part in player medicals and physical testing on Thursday — the Senators hit the ice for the first time on Friday — and wasn’t at the rink until the afternoon when he got word the deal was done with the Sharks. While he likely knew this day was coming, given all the speculation that has surrounded him for months, Karlsson was emotional when speaking with the media about moving on from Ottawa.
“I’m just going to speak from the heart,” said Karlsson, who was taken No. 15 overall in the 2008 NHL draft in Ottawa. “I wish we were standing here during different circumstances. It’s a very emotional and sad day for me and my family. It’s an unfortunate part of the business.”
Karlsson, who said Ottawa will be his home “forever,” thanked the organization along with the late Bryan Murray — the general manager who drafted him into the NHL — and former captain Daniel Alfredsson, a fellow Swede who mentored him when he first joined the Senators.
“It’s very unfortunate that I’m going to have to move on professionally,” Karlsson said. “I don’t think I ever in my wildest imagination I ever thought that I would leave this place, but unfortunately we’re here under these circumstances.”
Dorion said he had been working on this deal for a long time and felt he had to act now. The Senators also held serious talks with the Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning, while there is talk in league circles the Columbus Blue Jackets also kicked tires along with several other teams.
“This has been in the works for awhile. We talked to multiple teams around draft time and after (July 1) trade talks heated up,” he said. “We didn’t feel (in July) we were getting the return for an Erik Karlsson-type of player. At this point, we definitely feel we got a very good return and six pieces that could end up being eight.”
Dorion told reporters in June “the dressing room was broken,” but he wasn’t pointing the finger at Karlsson for those issues.
“It wasn’t just about the captain, it was about everyone,” Dorion said. “We spoke about it (Tuesday) in our rebuild plan, we definitely know the room was broken and that’s not always on one individual. We talked about that when I said that (in June), it was about the whole room being broken and we didn’t want to point fingers at one person.”
“I was prepared to come here and work hard for this team. I still have a year on my deal and, unfortunately, I couldn’t follow through.”
The decision to deal Karlsson isn’t going over well in Ottawa — not only was he the club’s best player, he was also one of the most popular to ever pull on the jersey, second only to Alfredsson. Nine years ago on Sept. 12, 2009, the Senators dealt winger Dany Heatley to the Sharks on the first day of camp.
“I don’t think that I could have ever prepared for this,” Karlsson said. “I’ve still got to wrap my head around what’s going on. It’s been happening really fast. Even though there’s been a lot of noise for almost a year now, I never thought in my wildest imagination I was going to leave this place.”
Less than a year away from unrestricted free agency, Karlsson, 28, isn’t coming off his best season — he scored nine goals and 62 points and was a minus-25 — but he’s still widely considered one the NHL’s best defenceman with 126 goals and 518 points in 627 games.
The decision to trade Karlsson is further confirmation that the organization is entering a full rebuild, and the captain may not be the last player out of the door before the work here is completed.
“In our discussion with the Sharks, they were the first team that stepped up to what we were looking for,” Dorion said.
“There was no time constraint and we knew we were going to do the best deal for the organization and with training camp (starting), we just felt now was the right time to move forward with this team.”