Karlsson trade talk heats up
As a long summer for the Ottawa Senators winds down, talk involving the future of captain Erik Karlsson is heating up — again.
With training camp set to open Sept. 13 at Canadian Tire Centre, teams that were serious about acquiring the Senators’ captain have stepped up their efforts to see if they can offer general manager Pierre Dorion the right fit to make the deal a reality.
It’s believed the Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks, who have all had varying degrees of interest since the Senators started listening to offers for the 28-year-old Karlsson before last year’s trade deadline, have all circled back to the club in the last few days.
A report by Hockey Night in Canada’s Elliotte Friedman on Wednesday indicated the Vancouver Canucks had recently shown interest. It’s not known whether the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have been after Karlsson since last year’s deadline, had re-entered talks, but it would make sense if they had.
We’ve been here before, but the indications are the traction in these recent trade discussions means the possibility exists that Karlsson could be moved before the start of the season.
While the Senators weren’t close to a deal with any teams when talks got serious during the first week of July, general managers are reengaged with the start of camp now less than three weeks away, and the timing could be right to make something happen.
There are teams involved in these discussions that would like to get a trade done before camp so the roster core is set going into the season, and they know if the Senators are going to make this deal the asking price is high, which means they’ll have to give up significant assets in return.
A two-time Norris Trophy winner, Karlsson, who is expected to return to Canada this week after a trip to Europe, turned down an eight-year extension from the Senators worth north of $80 million on July 1 and at this stage it’s not known if there have been any further contract discussions.
The Senators don’t feel any sense of urgency to move Karlsson, and if he’s not dealt they fully expect him to report to training camp. The belief is the asking price is at least four assets in return, including a player who can help the club immediately, a first-round pick and a high-end prospect.
While it was speculated in this space last week the Canucks might be a fit for Karlsson, it was interesting to see a report they had held talks with the Senators. Vancouver GM Jim Benning has tried to make blockbuster deals in the past and wouldn’t shy away from trying to make this kind of trade.
Benning has denied publicly he’s involved in the Karlsson sweepstakes, but that’s not going to stop people from speculating.
If the Senators were going to deal with the Canucks, the belief in league circles is they would have to try to get Vancouver’s 2018 first-rounder Quinn Hughes plus a player who could help right away and a first-round draft pick as part of the package.
Benning indicated to Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma on Wednesday, after the Karlsson rumour surfaced, that he doesn’t want to move the club’s young assets and is focused on the future. The Canucks have also been mentioned in trade rumours involving Boston Bruins blue-liner Torey Krug.
“Teams talk about taking our young players or picks,” Benning said. “We have some depth in our prospect pool, but our future is about Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, Thatcher Demko and Olli Juolevi — I’ve not lost sight of that.
“But if something (a trade) makes sense, I’m not doing my job (if I ignore it).”
The Canucks do have the assets to make a trade and there’s been no shortage of discussion about the possibility that former president Trevor Linden resigned last month because he was getting pressure from owner Francesco Aquilini to win right away.
The Senators aren’t in any rush to deal Karlsson if teams aren’t willing to pay the price; however, it may be best for both sides to get a trade done as soon as possible and avoid the distraction of him reporting to camp with the reality of free agency on July 1, 2019, lingering.
It’s believed the Senators gave two teams — possibly the Lightning and Knights — permission to talk contract with Karlsson’s camp in July, but in the end nobody involved in the talks was willing to pay what Ottawa wanted in return.
This time, there is a sense with the season drawing closer that somebody may make the Senators an offer they can’t refuse. If that’s the case, then Karlsson may finally be on the move.