It is no secret the San Jose Sharks were trying to trade Erik Karlsson in the offseason but they had no bits with his $11.5 million AVV and his poor play over the past few years.
Fast forward to 18 games into the 2022-23 NHL season, he leads all defenseman in scoring and sits 6th among the NHL scoring leaders with 24 points in 18 games.
Karlsson’s resurgence has lead to NHL trade rumors floating around about teams now interested in a Erik Karlsson trade.
Chris Johnston was on TSN’s Insider Trading segment and stated that it is not a pressing issue for Sharks GM Mike Grier to trade Karlsson but if a team called he would be open to listening.
Grier had let teams know in the offseason that they are willing to listen on any Sharks player but Tomas Hertl.
Senators, Devils, interested in a Erik Karlsson trade
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators were thought to be playoff contenders but they sit last in the Atlantic Conference and if they don’t turn things around soon, it will be too late for a playoff push.
Rumors are starting to make the round that GM Pierre Dorian is interested in bringing back Erik Karlsson. The Sens have the assets to make a trade but the San Jose Sharks would have to eat half of Karlsson’s salary and would Karlsson want to come back to Ottawa?
Karlsson does own a no-trade clause and if a trade were to happen Karlsson would have to agree to the destination.
I think those conversations have happened between the Sharks and the Sens, I believe the two teams have talked about a Erik Karlsson trade. I don’t know if it’s going to be possible.
Elliotte Friedman on Erik Karlson trade to Ottawa
New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils look to be a legit team this year, they sit first in the Metropolitan Division with a 13-3 record and on a fantastic 10 game winning streak.
If they feel they are legit Stanley Cup contenders and will be playoff contenders for the next few seasons, do they go all-in and make a Karlsson trade? They have the assets to make it happen.
New York Islanders
Like the New Jersey Devils, the New York Islanders have performed better than expected to start the 2022-23 NHL season.
They tried in the offseason to land some big fish in Johnny Gaudreau and Nazem Kadri, but were rejected by the players. Do they try one more time to land a big name player in Erik Karlsson?
A Noah Dobson, Erik Karlsson back end would look pretty sweet, but would Karlsson want to be traded to Long Island?
Now is the perfect time for a Karlsson trade. The San Jose Sharks can sell high and max out the assets coming back in a trade. The Sharks will have to eat half of Karlsson Sharks salary cap hit for any trade to happen. No team will take on his full $11.5 million AVV.
If will be interesting to watch what the Sharks and other teams do in the next few week. American Thanksgiving is usually the time when we found out which teams are contenders and which teams are pretenders.
