Sharks’ Karlsson signs $92m deal
Kessel rejects trade
SAN JOSE, California, June 18, (RTRS): All-Star defenseman Erik Karlsson signed an eightyear deal to remain with the San Jose Sharks. The team did not release contract figures, but multiple reports on Monday said it’s worth about $11.5 million per year – $92 million total.
His contract will be among the NHL’s richest in annual average value. Connor McDavid o f Edmonton is the league’s highestpaid player, with a $12.5 million annual average value.
Karlsson, 29, could have become the league’s marquee free agent this offseason as he reached the end of the sevenyear, $45.5 million contract he signed with the Ottawa Senators, who selected him No. 15 overall pick in the 2008 NHL Draft. He is a two-time winner of the NHL’s Norris Trophy (2012 and 2015) and a six-time All-Star.
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Phil Kessel recently vetoed a trade, and the team is no longer seeking to move him, general manager Jim Rutherford said on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh.
Kessel, a 13-year veteran with 357 goals and 466 assists in his career, reportedly nixed a trade to the Minnesota Wild, which were not on Kessel’s list of approved trade destinations.
The New York Rangers acquired defenseman Jacob Trouba from the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for defenseman Neal Pionk and the 20th overall pick in the 2019 NHL draft.
Trouba, 25, set career highs in assists (42) and points (50) last season, playing in all 82 regularseason games for the first time in his career. Among defensemen, he tied for ninth in the league in assists and was 13th in points.
The Anaheim Ducks announced Dallas Eakins as their head coach. Eakins, 52, most recently was head coach of the Ducks’ American Hockey League affiliate, the San Diego Gulls.
Eakins also has NHL head coaching experience, leading the Edmonton Oilers to a 36-63-14 record from 2013-15. He played for eight teams across a 10-year NHL career as a defenseman, scoring no goals and adding nine assists.
Eakins replaces Randy Carlyle, who was fired as Ducks coach in February after a dreadful 2-15-4 stretch where Anaheim lost 12 straight games (0-8-4) from Dec 18-Jan 15.