Interim GM says `nothing is off-limits'
SAN JOSE >> Joe Will, the Sharks interim general manager, said he's open to discussing the possibility of trading either Brent Burns or Erik Karlsson this offseason if he feels such a move would improve the team.
“We do need to, anytime, look at getting better however we can and nothing is off-limits,” Will told the Bay Area News Group earlier this week. “But having said that, they're exceptional players and we have a lot of very highend players. Ideally, we'd like to include everybody in what we're doing here, but again, we'll just see what happens moving forward as we bring in a new (general manager).
“Nothing's imminent. No changes are imminent or anything like that, but open to discuss. Yeah, I think if you want to get better, you have to discuss it.”
The Sharks are still in the early stages of their search for a new full-time GM, and team president Jonathan Becher said this week that a person might not be in place until late July or early August.
Burns is the Sharks' leader with 594 points in 798 games since he was acquired from the Minnesota Wild in 2011, and at 37, is coming off a season in which he had 54 points in 82 games and averaged 26:07 of ice time per night.
Karlsson, 31, is second behind Burns among Sharks defensemen with 142 points in 211 games since he was acquired from the Ottawa Senators in 2018.