Erik Karlsson didn’t request a trade, and he is happy the deadline is behind him. That’s what he told the media today, and explained that he would be open to an extension with the team if their plans line up.
I love this city, I love this community. I love everything about it. I’ve been here for a very long time and I’ve made Ottawa my home and it’s always going to be my home. So when that time comes, I hope that there’s a place for me in the future and that this team is going in the direction that I would like to for us to have a chance to win in the near future.
Karlsson was the biggest name on the market yesterday, with teams like Tampa Bay and Vegas interested right until the end. Many believed that was because the Ottawa Senators aren’t prepared to give him a massive long-term contract when his current deal expires in the summer of 2019. Though it would be tough for him to say anything else at this point, Karlsson has always maintained that he loves Ottawa and would want to spend his entire career there. If something has changed in the last few weeks, he isn’t sharing.
- The package the Edmonton Oilers received for pending free agent Patrick Maroon was underwhelming, and now we might know why. Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli today told 630CHED that he only received a single offer for Maroon, and that it came just five minutes before the deadline. The New Jersey Devils acquired Maroon for a 2019 third-round pick and the rights to J.D. Dudek, a role player with Boston College who is likely to return for his senior season. That Maroon didn’t create much interest is likely due to the belief that his offensive outburst last season is tied directly to Connor McDavid, after the big winger scored 27 goals, the first time he’d totaled more than 12 in a single season.
- Josh Anderson was injured last night after Dmitry Orlov delivered a hip check in the Columbus-Washington game, and according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic is awaiting the results of further tests to determine how long he’ll be out. Anderson is an extremely versatile forward and an important part of the Blue Jackets’ attack. How long he’s out for could dramatically impact the playoff race in the Eastern Conference, where Columbus currently sits in the second wildcard position. With four teams within seven points of the Blue Jackets (including the Florida Panthers who hold four games in hand), they’ll need someone to immediately step up and fill Anderson’s shoes if he is out for any length of time.
re maroon.
I think chiarelli overplayed his hand in thinking what he could get for him. Jesus a pylon might 10-15 goals playing with mcdavid. that said I don’t think he’s a bad player just it’s – almost painfully…except to chiarelli – obvious that his numbers are a mcdavid by-product.
I don’t think its surprising that Maroon didn’t get back a lot in a trade. Its not a coincidence that he just so happened to set a career high in goals and points while playing along McDavid (and I think his career high in assists came when he was skating alongside Getzlaf and Perry in Anaheim). Maroon’s success has been tied with him playing alongside at least one superstar and even then his numbers aren’t anything special considering who he shares/has shared ice time with and how many points they put up. I think other GMs realized that and weren’t going to offer a lot for a guy who would likely be used in a bottom six role. A third rounder and a prospect is pretty decent considering Grabner (who has shown that he can score without needing to be next to a superstar) got a second rounder and a prospect. Anybody expecting a Nash-esque haul or even a first rounder was probably too busy watching McDavid go to work to realize that Maroon wasn’t doing much.
^Good points. Totally agree. Though Grabner scored a lot of his points on an empty net. Grabner still a better deadline pickup though as he can be used in all situations.
Here are left wings that were traded on or just prior to the deadline: Tatar, Vanek, Kane, Nash, Hartman, J.T. Miller – all of whom fit one or more of these criteria: they are younger than Patrick Maroon, they have outperformed Maroon this year, they have a better track record of production than Maroon, they are under contract for next year.
The reason the Maroon return was “underwhelming” or was considerably less than than the return for Nash shouldn’t be a mystery, no matter how much anyone believed he’d fetch. There was an abundance of left wings on the market and a lot of them were more attractive to acquire than Maroon. It was a buyers’ market for left wings. Maroon was traded late after contending teams like Nashville, Vegas, Boston, TB, and San Jose all made upgrades to their forward group.
This is without getting into his McDavidness (or lack thereof going forward) or knocks on his skating. Analysis prior to the deadline that suggested he’d return a big package didn’t read the market properly. It’s not a gigantic mystery. There’s only so many landing spots for left wings. Market was flooded and Chiarelli got a disappointing return, but not an unsurprising one.