The San Jose Sharks missed out on several of their trade targets this offseason, but will come out with arguably the best available player. Ottawa Senators captain and superstar defenseman Erik Karlsson has been traded to the Sharks. In exchange the Senators will receive a 2020 first-round pick, a 2019 second-round pick, Chris Tierney, Josh Norris, Rudolfs Balcers and Dylan DeMelo. The Senators will also receive a 2021 second-round pick if Karlsson re-signs with the Sharks and an additional first-round pick no later than 2022 if the Sharks trade Karlsson back to an Eastern Conference team. That 2021 second would also upgrade to a first if San Jose reaches the Stanley Cup Final next season. Francis Perron will also be going to the Sharks with Karlsson.
After months of speculation and rumor, the Senators have finally moved Karlsson to the highest bidder. The deal does not come with a pre-arranged contract extension, but will avoid the distraction of Karlsson suiting up for the first on-ice session of training camp tomorrow. The 28-year old defenseman did however finally address the media, and made it clear that he and his family will be living in Ottawa for the rest of his life despite the trade. Karlsson explained that he had at one point believed that he would spend his entire career in Ottawa, and was fighting back tears as he said goodbye to the room full of media.
For San Jose, the acquisition of Karlsson immediately jumps their defense group to one of the best in the NHL. Already loaded with talent like Brent Burns and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, the team can now match just about any line in the league with a pair of defenders capable of driving play. That’s very important in the Pacific Division, where several teams were all competing for playoff spots without any real standout contenders. The Sharks have now become that expected favorite for the division, and should rival the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets in the Western Conference. That’s assuming that Karlsson can quickly become assimilated into the group and is fully recovered from the ankle injury that derailed the first part of the 2017-18 season.
In a league where good right-handed defensemen are rare, Karlsson and Burns are arguably—along with Drew Doughty—two of the top three options in the NHL. At both even-strength and on the powerplay, the Sharks should be incredibly dangerous and haven’t given up a ton from their current roster.
Tierney, 24, is the biggest NHL piece and should help a Senators forward group that is expected to struggle offensively. Last season playing down in the lineup, Tierney recorded 17 goals and 40 points and just started to show what he was capable of. The two-way center was selected 55th-overall in 2012, and hadn’t cracked 15 goals or 30 points in his previous seasons. In Ottawa, there is a good chance that he could be given a much bigger opportunity—especially given the news that Jean-Gabriel Pageau could miss significant time—and take on some real responsibility in the top six.
DeMelo too should see increased playing time in Ottawa after his solid 2017-18 season in San Jose. Exposed to the expansion draft but passed over by the Vegas Golden Knights, he played in a career high 63 games with the Sharks and recorded 20 points in limited minutes. That total would have been good for third on the Senators last year behind only Karlsson and Thomas Chabot, meaning there’s a very real chance that DeMelo sees powerplay time and a big jump in ice time. Whether he can parlay that into improved production is unclear, especially when moving to an Atlantic Division that has some of the league’s best forward lines.
Though Tierney and DeMelo will likely both play significant roles on the Senators this season, it is in Norris and Balcers that the trade value really lies. The former was selected in the first round in 2017 and had a very good freshman season at the University of Michigan, while the latter turned in an outstanding rookie year in the AHL and could potentially make the jump to the NHL right away. Balcers scored 48 points in 67 games for the San Jose Barracuda, proving that he is worth much more than the fifth-round selection the Sharks used to get him in 2015.
Norris isn’t currently signed and poses some risk as a collegiate prospect, but given that he is best friends with new Senators prospect Brady Tkachuk and still only entering his sophomore season there’s still little doubt that he will eventually be signed to his entry-level deal. His development will be an absolute key to this trade providing much value for the Senators, as some have projected Norris as a legitimate two-way force at center ice.
While the Senators did get some real value, it’s hard to not be ecstatic if you are a fan of the San Jose Sharks. The team has added one of the very best players in the entire world and can now legitimately say they are a Stanley Cup contender going into 2018-19. Getting Karlsson signed to a contract extension is a real must given that they’ve almost completely rid themselves of high draft picks the next few seasons—the team still owes the Buffalo Sabres their 2019 first for re-signing Evander Kane—but at this point GM Doug Wilson has decided to “go for it” while Burns, Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski are still capable players.
One important thing to note following this trade is the position of the Colorado Avalanche, who own the Senators first-round pick for this season. With Karlsson gone and Mark Stone and Matt Duchene possibly following at some point, many are expecting the Senators to end the season near the very bottom of the standings. The Senators recently decided to keep their 2018 fourth overall pick and select Tkachuk instead of handing it to the Avalanche, and could potentially end up giving up the top selection next June. That still is to be determined given that even last place in the league has less than an 20% chance at selecting first with the current odds of the draft lottery, but Avalanche fans can look forward to another top prospect entering the organization before long.
Karlsson and Doughty with arch rivals. Thats gonna be fun
and still san jose won’t win a cup… and they’ll pay karlsson too much and hamper their future..good job SJ…
Okay so youre a Kings fan for one so there a lot of bias there.. second the Sharks have historically drafted terrible(greatest 1st Rndrs include Marleau and Couture and that is all). Three Tierney and Demelo are 3rd liners at best. Josh Norris and Balcers are not guys that you would really go crazy over. Four Sharks understand that they are getting old with not a lot of great prospects in the pipeline so their goal is to win now and not later. The later they wait the less chance they have because guys will be getting into their late to mid 30s
paying kane, and soon karlsson and with everyone getting older..and with the competition in the pacific, let alone the west… just saying…
They arent paying Karlsson yet unless you have some insider info… Kane is 27 rn so hes got some years left unlike Pavs and Burns who are 36-33 respectively.
But just like JT19 says the Kings know a lot about that so maybe you’re onto something.
The Kings know a lot about that too…Gaborik, Ilyasova, Dustin Brown.
Quick is looking like a great deal too only if he can just not tear his vagina
Lol thats funny. Making fun of a man who singlehandedly won a cup.
Sharks still blew a 3-0 lead, lol get over yourself man. Sharks window is about 3-4 years and with deep teams like penguins, lightening, caps, golden knights. Sharks still have no chance.
Ah go hug Puig!
Ottawa got fleeced. Again. Basically got a billion B and C players and a couple of picks for a Norris Trophy winner.
Thats the best case package for a guy with 1 year left on a contract who is gone no matter what. Decent deal for them
wrong. That’s still a horrible package. It’s quantity clearly over quality. this smells like a we needed to get quantity because we are planning more players shipping out
What more were they going to get? They clearly wanted Glass from VGK and that wasn’t happening. Im sure they fielded offers for months and this was the best
And Sharks steal Karlsson
Great Trade! Love it! Now I don’t have to worry about the Rangers overpaying for Karlsson.
Amen brother!
Now they flip him for more
Lol the Senators learned after the first time (Hoffman trade) and built in a consequence if the Sharks trade him back to the Eastern Conference.
only Pierre Dorion makes Marc bergevin seem competent.
Not a hockey fan but am a casual Sharks fan since I’m in the market. How major of a player is Karlsson (baseball or basketball comparison would be awesome)
Karlsson is the same level as Damian Lillard or Paul Goldschmidt in my mind
The goldschkidt comparison is great. franchise player who when healthy can be top 2 at his position and top 10 in the league.
What do you think about the Lillard comp?
Lillard is a bad comp. There are too many better players than Lillard. I’d say more like Anthony Davis… The size being wrong of course. But the impact and level of play being spot on.
Ah thank you, I now have a reference!
I would more or less compare him to a pitcher but a dominant one at that. Say Scherzer or Sale. Just based on the fact he plays okay to good defense but the offense is elite especially for a defensemen.
He’s the best defenseman in the league. He’s in the Trout, Scherzer, Harper caliber of baseball players
Mike Trout is on his own tier. No one is Mike Trout. Karlsson is more of a Lindor ignoring age
Betts is Just is good if not better than trout…..
Betts is going to win mvp this season… if healthy last year he would have been in convo and was runner up 2 years ago in his second season…. Betts is a beast
I think Jose Ramirez may argue otherwise.
Betts is winning MVP, but to say he’s better than Trout is not accurate at all
I would argue that Karlsson isn’t the best defenseman in the league. He’s the best offensive defenseman. Doughty is a better all-around d-man, as he is far superior in his own end.
Mike Vick from Madden 04.
So much saltiness on these comments
I can’t wait to reference this trade the next time someone tells me in fantasy I can’t trade multiple bench pieces for a Teams best player. this proves otherwise
There is the Pacific and below them, a mile of crap. Then below that is the rest of the league.
In all of this makes you wonder why they never dealt with the draft pick for next year to the avalanche which may become the number one overall pick in a big year. Very poor job by the front office.
Imagine how excited the Avalanche are that he is not in their division, and that Ottawa got fleeced and can’t possibly finish out of the bottom 3
Wow. Colorado can dangle their own 1st rounder too (if they want) to land a big fish from a rebuilding team. Maybe get something from the Rangers or a D man from the Hurricanes.
The only reason to not surrender that first rounder this year to the avalanche was because you weren’t going to going to rebuild and trade away this guy. So Looking back on it all makes you realize the front office had no vision or idea what they were planning on doing.
Polish of course this team had a vision. it was just blinded by that alcoholic koolaid they drank after their playoff run. no one in their right mind thought that was a perennial cup contender. no one signs condon to that deal to be a backup, no one in their right mind trades turris AND a 1ST for Duchene without thinking we need to lock this guy up and no one finds out about a players fiancee being accused of threatening the star player and his wife and keeps that guy around for more months. The fact is this front office and owner is clueless. They have literally been reactionary to EVERYTHING and been burned each time. Then to come out on a video and say it’s a rebuild but we will be better than people think this year. I live in Ottawa and even I have come to the conclusion the best thing for this team long term is to move and find a new owner, because this clown just doesn’t get reality.
There was nothing wrong with the trade at the time. They acquired an extra year of an all star forward for essentially a first which everybody thought would at beat be middle of the first round and a prospect who wasn’t in their top 5. There’s no way anybody could possibly say they were going to fall off so bad last year.
There wasn’t at the time. The issue was not giving the Avs the 1st pick this year and then dumping Karlson anyway and not it might be the #1 overall.
You must have seen the billboard from the fans then asking for melnyk to sell the team. By far worst current owner in pro sports
Peter Angelos begs to differ…
I agree. With Karlsson in the team, they wouldn’t have came dead last.
Geez if I was an ott fan I would rather the return the Habs got for pacioretty with Tatar and Suzuki! Sens fans can’t be happy!
bingo. this is a GM that months ago said he was after quality not quantity and if he didn’t get quality would wait. Well he apparently waited and settled for mediocre to little quality. but he my at least he got a lot of it.
I think Balcers is a quality piece. He can score. I’ll agree the other pieces aren’t great. DeMelo isn’t a bad piece, but he is more of a secondary piece. I would have though the Sens would’ve wanted a d prospect like Jeremy Roy or Cavan Fitzgerald instead of Norris. Then you at least have a couple prospects who can possibly be very good players for you.
balcers wasn’t even on the radar 2 years ago. he had a good season and a half in the minors and AHL. The biggest issue is that when you trade a superstar you need to get back a building block and there isn’t a player they received who can be classified as that. It’s piecing together 2 to 3 players to create one and those trades don’t usually work out well for the team getting the quantity.
I’m NOT saying this is a great trade for San Jose based on Erik’s many defensive limitations, but figure it doesn’t hurt for them to add a little more offense to their team in the back end. Lets face it, Burns AND Karlsson are OFFENSE FIRST d-men, but maybe having 2 of the best in that area in the NHL will work out better for them moving forward. Yeah, most of their team is non existent as far as recognizable players go, but might as well give OLD JOE AND CO a final shot to make the Finals as that roster is clearly aging. Maybe with his addition, they’ll draw less BS PP opportunities too, lol. ;)
Sure Joe and Joe are a little long in the tooth, Burns too (33) but I think Logan, Timo, Hertle, and Jones would beg to differ.