Trading Karlsson or Burns won't be easy
Keeping both might be a luxury team can no longer afford
It figured to be a tantalizing combination for years to come. With Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson locked up long-term, the San Jose Sharks would have two of the NHL's most prolific defensemen leading their power play and chewing up a combined 50 minutes a game.
But a handful of concerns came with Karlsson's eight-year, $92 million contract extension in
2019. One was that the Sharks had allocated too much of their salary cap space to one position, especially since Karlsson and Burns had a lot of the same qualities.
A flat salary cap for the last three seasons only exacerbated those fears.
Now one wonders if the Sharks might be ready to make some significant changes.
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman said Saturday that earlier this season, there were some preliminary trade discussions between the Sharks and a couple of other teams involving Karlsson, who has a full nomovement clause as part of his contract.
While those trade talks likely will not go anywhere, Friedman said, it might represent an acknowledgment by the Sharks that having both Burns and Karlsson is a luxury they can no longer afford, and that they would listen if any sensible trade offers came along.
The Sharks still have to hire a full-time general manager and moving either Karlsson or Burns — regardless of who is in charge — might not be easy.
But it might be necessary. Burns and Karlsson have had a combined salary-cap hit of $19.5 million, or 23.9 percent of the $81.5 million cap, for each of the last three seasons. Burns' eight-year, $64 million deal lasts for another three years and Karlsson's deal, with an $11.5 million cap hit, expires at the end of the 2026-27 season.
The contracts will continue to eat up a lot of cap space for the near future, as well, as the NHL's salary cap will rise to $82.5 million for next season, and perhaps only go up another $1 million for 2023-24.
The Sharks still want to win now and trading either Burns or Karlsson could bring in a legitimate top-six winger for the Sharks in return, or create enough salary-cap space to add one in another deal or in free agency.
Moving Karlsson would seem to be especially difficult. Not just because of his cap hit, but also because he has the ability to veto any trade. NHL rules allow the Sharks to retain up to half of Karlsson's $11.5 million cap hit in any deal, but that would be a hefty price for the team to pay.
Still, after missing the playoffs for three straight years, the Sharks have to examine what's working, and what isn't.
The Sharks have had a record of 82-101-25 over the last three seasons for
a .454 points percentage, which ranks 24th out of 31 teams not counting the Seattle Kraken. San Jose's average goals scored per game in that time is 2.58, which ranks 30th, including the Kraken.
The Sharks also converted on just 17.1 percent of their power play opportunities since the start of the 2019-2020 season. That ranks 25th in the NHL.
It's unfair to put that all on Burns and Karlsson, especially since the Sharks were in a self-described `reset' for much of that time, rotating numerous rookies in and out of the lineup. But, it's also not a stretch to suggest that the Sharks needed more bang for their buck in recent years.
For the last three seasons, Burns was third among all NHL defensemen in average time on ice at 25:54, and Karlsson was 17th at 23:53. Burns was 10th among all defensemen in scoring with 128 points in 208 games, but Karlsson, who has battled injuries, had 97 points in 158 games.
Karlsson had 35 points in 50 games this season. He needed surgery in January to repair a small muscle tear in his left forearm and missed the last eight games with an unspecified lower-body injury.
Asked to evaluate Karlsson's season, Sharks interim general manager Joe Will last week said, “I think he had some tremendous games with us this year and (it was) noticeable when he was out of the lineup. If we had a full season of him at that level of performance … we're probably a lot closer (to a playoff spot).”
Health is one of the reasons why despite being five years older than Karlsson, Burns, 37, would appear to be the easier player for the Sharks to move.
Burns has played in 679 games going back to Nov. 2013 and unlike Karlsson, has a modified no-trade clause in his contract in which he would accept a trade to one of three teams.