Captain Karlsson is still in Senators long-term plan: GM Dorion
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The plan for the Ottawa Senators is to keep Erik Karlsson as the captain of the ship.
As far as the Senators are concerned, he isn’t going anywhere except Tampa Bay to participate in the NHL’s all-star festivities next Saturday and Sunday.
There has been lots of trade speculation about the club’s best player in the last 96 hours after general manager Pierre Dorion threw out the old line that “even Wayne Gretzky got traded” while meeting with the media Thursday night in Ottawa.
Though, Dorion was trying to protect himself by going with “neversay-never” scenario and added Ottawa wants Karlsson to be a “Senator for life,” it was interpreted in some spots that the Senators were listening to offers on the two-time Norris Trophy winner and may try to trade him before this deadline.
Karlsson, who helped fuel all this when he told reporters in November he was going to get what he’s worth in his next deal, heard the comparison to the Gretzky trade but doesn’t feel the situation with the Senators is similar.
“It’s true, it happened, but by no means am I anywhere even close to that so I don’t even know why the parallel is even being drawn to that,” Karlsson said Saturday night following the club’s 4-3 meltdown against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Dealing Karlsson at this juncture doesn’t make sense and there’s a slim-to-none chance it’s going to happen in February.
League executives told Postmedia they believe the only untouchables on the club’s roster with the deadline looming for Dorion are alternate captain Mark Stone, Karlsson and possibly rookie blueliner Thomas Chabot.
Scheduled to become a unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2019, Dorion can hold talks with Karlsson this summer to see what he envisions in his future and find out what his salary demands are if the Senators plan to keep him in the fold long-term before he hits the lucrative marketplace.
The Senators can offer him an eight-year extension while any team that signs him as a UFA can offer a seven-year term. Karlsson said Saturday night he wants to stay in Ottawa.
With a cap hit of $6.5 million through 2018-19, the belief is Karlsson’s camp will be looking for a long-term deal in the $10-to$12 million range when they get down to brass tacks with the Senators and when that happens the organization will have to decide if it wants to make that kind of commitment.
The Senators can’t determine what’s next until they’ve had that conversation with Karlsson and his representatives from Toronto-based Newport Sports.
The reality is in Ottawa, Karlsson’s situation is similar to Gretzky because on many nights Karlsson is the straw that stirs the drink and he’s a driving force as to whether this club has success or not.
With the Senators all but officially eliminated from the playoffs, Karlsson can understand why his name has been mentioned.
“We’re in the bottom of the league, we’re not doing a good job here and my contract is about to be up so the discussion’s are going to be made,” Karlsson said.
“I still have (18 months) left to be here and work as hard as I can and as best as I can as a hockey player to try to make this team as good as possible. When that time comes to make a decision, I will make one. As of right now, it’s not something I have to worry about.
“Whatever has been speculated, you take it with a grain of salt and whatever happens will happen for a reason.”
The Senators don’t have to make a decision on Karlsson now and they’re going to need time to reflect when this season is over to determine where this team is headed. If he’s going to stay, the Senators also want to make sure they’ll be able to put the proper talent around him to have success.
Dorion also said the club has “multiple plans in place” on what direction this team will take in the coming months depending on how the Senators finish the season.
If they do decide to trade Karlsson if contract talks go nowhere in the summer then they’re going to have to get the proper assets in return. In the off-season, there will be 30 teams disappointed they didn’t win the Stanley Cup and the marketplace is going to be a lot larger than it’s right now which could cause a bidding war.
The priority is, and always has been, to sign Karlsson and keep him in the fold.
That approach hasn’t changed for Dorion and the Senators have no intentions of deviating from that plan.