EXPECT KARLSSON TO TAKE A PASS ON SENS
Everything points toward Ottawa fans seeing future Hall of Famer leave town
For his last interview inside the Senators dressing room, Erik Karlsson wore a cap and a freshface that made him look like he did when he was drafted as a skinny teenager 10 years ago.
“I wasn’t really ready to let go of my hair, so I had to let go of something,” joked Karlsson, who stuck with the tradition players have of immediately changing their look after a season ends — mostly noticeable following a playoff run. “Fortunately, my beard was the easier choice.”
On July 1, Karlsson will have a far more serious decision: To take or leave an eight-year contract extension offer from GM Pierre Dorion.
By reading between the lines, it looks like his last interview inside the Senators dressing room really was his last interview inside the Senators dressing room.
Dorion told season ticket holders gathered at a town hall session this week that the Senators will make Karlsson an offer that is “fair market value,” to which owner Eugene Melnyk chimed in with the suggestion that the team could also get “outgunned” by others willing to spend more.
That one’s a bit of a headscratcher. Karlsson still has a year left on his deal. It’s not like he’s the object of a bidding war. Melnyk also has stated management will have all the money it needs to build a winner.
If the Senators want to keep Karlsson, they can make it work. But judging by their comments, it looks like Melnyk and Dorion are laying groundwork that will absolve the organization of blame when the financial numbers fall short of what Karlsson feels he’s worth.
“The ball is in (Karlsson’s) court,” said Dorion.
From his never-wavering sentiments to buying a new house in the Glebe, Karlsson is convincingly sincere with his desire to remain a Senator. He also is adamant about getting what he thinks he deserves when his current deal expires July 1, 2019.
“I do believe that no matter who it is, whether it’s me or not, that’s the way it is,” he said on locker cleanout day. “That’s the business part of things. I do think that guys these days are more concerned about it than they were in the past. And again, that’s actually one of the things I’m least worried about ... what the money is going to be. I’m going to get what I’m going to get, whether it’s here or somewhere else.”
With a “3-5-year” target for winning the Stanley Cup, it appears the Senators are going to address needs by trading Karlsson.
Just a hunch, but they could be thinking the money they’ll save in moving the captain can be used to sign Matt Duchene and Mark Stone, two cornerstones who are in need of extensions. A 2-for-1 deal, of sorts. “Mark Stone and Matt Duchene were the second and third guys we met with (at exit interviews), and I think they both want to be here long term,” said Dorion. “They were honest and frank conversations about us getting better. I think they know what the plan is. They know what our intentions are. And we hope we can keep them a part of this team for a long time.”
How is this trading Karlsson going to sit with the fans? Not well at all.
No matter what Dorion can get for Karlsson, the majority will be outraged the Senators have allowed a future Hall of Famer to get away.
Their concern about the Karlsson situation has been evident in many ways, the most recent with the ovation and cheers that erupted when Dorion told Monday’s town hall gathering the captain would not be traded before the draft.
“We are going to make the best hockey decision for this organization moving forward,” Dorion said Thursday. “But we listen to our fans.”
The politically correct thing to say, yes, but the first part of the above statement is obviously more important. If the customers start making the decisions, the GM will soon be sitting among them.
No one is expecting it, but Karlsson could always have a change of heart and take less to remain in Ottawa. He could always determine that he really would like to be part of a winner here, then make sacrifices that allow the Senators to sign Stone and Duchene.
“During the era that we’re in with the salary cap, we have to do certain things a certain way to try and get as many players in under that cap as possible,” said Karlsson. “And then at the end of the day that’s the management’s job, and I know they’re going to do a good job trying to figure that out. Wherever I’ll end up in that category, it’s not something I really worry about.
“I’m going to worry about playing hockey for a very long time and being very successful. I’m not overly concerned. I know that when that time comes that’s going to be the least of the problems.”