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Erik Karlsson Trade Talks Have Stalled

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Over the past few days, it seemed like a trade for all-world defenseman Erik Karlsson was imminent. Originally, the Dallas Stars were confirmed to be the leader in the race and deep in talks with the Ottawa Senators on a deal for Karlsson. Not long after, it was the Tampa Bay Lightning who had reportedly pulled ahead and had a deal in place with Ottawa that simply required a third team to take on salary. Some even stated that a deal was done pending a trade call, a rumor that obviously lacked reliability. Karlsson remains a Senator and it now seems like a trade is not coming as quickly as expected.

The Athletic’s Joe Smith, who has had his finger on the pulse of the Lightning’s trade talks, is no longer optimistic about a deal getting done. Smith writes that a deal for Karlsson should not be expected any time soon and that nothing is “imminent or close”. Smith admits that a trade could still work out between Ottawa and Tampa, but it’s no longer the foregone conclusion that some had perceived. Meanwhile the Stars are rumored to have fallen out of favor when they refused to include star blue line prospect Miro Heiskanen in a deal for Karlsson. Sportsnet’s John Shannon believes that the Stars still have a chance to land Karlsson, but it seems that Dallas’ chances depend on whether or not they can be flexible with their offer.

The Senators now have a feel for the market and should be able to work out a fair value for Karlsson soon. However, what isn’t so easy is accommodating their insistence on also sending away Bobby Ryan and his $7.25MM cap hit over four years remaining on his contract. Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports today that this is the exact reason that finding a trade partner and working out the details of a deal could prove difficult. A three-team deal, like the one contemplated by Ottawa and Tampa Bay, is the most likely outcome for a Karlsson trade, but such deals don’t develop overnight. A trade could still be a ways away – The Athletic’s Chris Stevenson says that the Lightning, Stars, and Vegas Golden Knights all remain in the running – but Stevenson also says that nothing is close as the Senators have “retrenched” and the suitors are playing hardball. It seems that whichever team is able to up the ante on their offer and also be creative in managing several major contracts will be the team to land Karlsson and change the face of their franchise.

Alex Burrows Announces Retirement

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The Ottawa Senators bought out the final year of Alex Burrows’ contract recently, and it will unsurprisingly mark the end of his long professional career. Burrows has announced his retirement from playing hockey at the age of 37, ending a 13-year NHL career. Quickly though, the Laval Rocket—the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens—named Burrows an assistant coach for the upcoming season.

Burrows has had quite the playing career. Undrafted because no one even knew who he was, he didn’t even play in the QMJHL until 19. Fighting his way onto a roster and developing into one of the best players for a Shawinigan team that included Jason Pominville and Zbynek Michalek, he earned himself a chance in the ECHL. It didn’t take long for him to climb the ranks in the minor leagues and eventually break in with the Vancouver Canucks. Just a few seasons into his NHL career he was playing on the top line, and scoring 117 goals over a four-season span between 2008-12. That 35-goal campaign in 2009-10 would never be replicated, but Vancouver fans will never forget his accomplishments in the regular season and contributions in the playoffs.

It wasn’t all success for Burrows though, who was well known for his over-the-line play at times. He racked up 1,134 penalty minutes in his NHL career, and even faced a ten game suspension in the most recent season. He was also involved with an infamous “biting” incident with Patrice Bergeron during the Stanley Cup Finals, though was never suspended for it.

In all, there’s a lot to like for the Canadiens in adding Burrows to their coaching staff. There are few players that had to fight as hard as he did to carve out an NHL career, and those who have were rarely met with his level of success. Who better to teach the young prospects and minor league players what is required to make it at the highest level, though perhaps some of the antics will be left out of those discussions. For Burrows, it is the end of a 913-game NHL career; one that has been among the most interesting and entertaining—one way or another—of his generation.

Marian Gaborik Not Yet Cleared By Doctors Which Prevented A Potential Buyout Last Month

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  • Part of the reason the Senators didn’t buy out winger Marian Gaborik during the first window last month is that he has yet to be declared fully recovered from his back injury, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. However, Ottawa will have another window to do so later this summer thanks to defenceman Cody Ceci and winger Mark Stone filing for arbitration.  The window will open up for 48 hours once both players have signed.

Tampa Bay, Ottawa Seeking Third Team To Facilitate Erik Karlsson Trade

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6:03 PM: TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that the Rangers are a team that could potentially be involved as the cap facilitator.  Meanwhile, Joe Smith of The Athletic adds (via Twitter) that winger Ryan Callahan is in play for this move.  He has a 16-team trade list.

3:28 PM: The rumor mill has been working overtime this morning on a potential Ottawa Senators-Tampa Bay Lightning trade revolving around superstar defenseman Erik Karlsson, and now Travis Yost of TSN tweets that the teams are in the process of trying to find a third party to facilitate the deal, as balancing salaries is a key part of any transaction of this magnitude. Karlsson is expected to only be traded to a team if a contract extension can be worked out, while the Lightning are not expected to be one of the teams willing to eat Bobby Ryan’s contract. That contract could be exactly why the third team needs to be involved, though Tampa Bay themselves would likely need to move out contracts to fit in a Karlsson extension.

Remember that nothing is final at this point, and since the stakes in any potential blockbuster Karlsson trade are so high things can change at any moment. Just two days ago the Dallas Stars were considered the clear front runners, though now everything seems to be pointing towards the Lightning.

Karlsson is reportedly looking for a contract extension similar to the eight-year, $88MM deal that Drew Doughty recently signed, which would put any team in a financial bind. The Lightning, who know their way around superstar contracts, could potentially fit him in since they’ve inked their other top players to reasonable extensions the last few years. Steven Stamkos ($8.5MM AAV), Victor Hedman ($7.875MM) and Ryan McDonagh ($6.75MM) have all signed relatively team-friendly deals instead of going to free agency, and though the team still needs to sign Nikita Kucherov to a mega-deal, they even have some cap space remaining for the upcoming season.

There are obvious candidates for the Lightning to move to clear more room. Ryan Callahan ($5.8MM), Tyler Johnson ($5.0MM), Alex Killorn ($4.45MM) are all expendable long-term contracts given the emergence of several young players, while Anton Stralman ($4.5MM), Braydon Coburn ($3.7MM) and Dan Girardi ($3.0MM) are defensemen on expiring contracts who could be moved out given Karlsson’s impact on the blue line. The superstar defenseman only costs $6.5MM this season, meaning jettisoning just one of the above players would give the team enough cap space to acquire him.

Remember that teams during the offseason can go up to 10%, or $7.95MM, over the salary cap ceiling but must be compliant again by the beginning of the season. Even if Tampa Bay doesn’t find a taker for one of their contracts, they could still potentially acquire Karlsson only to find a way to get under the cap ceiling by the beginning of the year.

Poll: Where Will Erik Karlsson Play In 2018-19?

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Since John Tavares decided on the Toronto Maple Leafs as his destination of choice in free agency, all eyes have turned to another Ontario-based superstar who might be changing locales in short order. Erik Karlsson has been given the opportunity to negotiate extensions with potential acquiring teams, and seems destined to be moved at some point in the next few days or weeks. The Ottawa Senators captain has one year left on his current contract, and was reportedly offered an eight-year, $80MM extension by the team. That number comes in slightly below the contract given to Drew Doughty (eight years, $88MM) which is seen by many as the measuring stick for Karlsson’s next deal.

Recently it was reported that the Dallas Stars had the inside track on any Karlsson trade, and as recently as a few hours ago Chris Stevenson of The Athletic tweeted that talks are ongoing between the two teams. The Stars have plenty of young talent, including Finnish defensemen Julis Honka and Miro Heiskanen, and are looking to compete while Jamie Benn, John Klingberg and Tyler Seguin are still in their prime. A Karlsson deal would make them immediate contenders, though it would obviously cost a ton in assets and salary.

The Tampa Bay Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights, New York Islanders and even Columbus Blue Jackets have been mentioned among other teams as potential destinations, and it is not clear at this point who will win out and land the two-time Norris Trophy winner. It’s not even guaranteed that Karlsson will move on from Ottawa, which he’s called his home for many years and could potentially still increase their offer to retain him should the offered packages not live up to their expectations.

Where do you think Karlsson will start the 2018-19 season? Vote below and make sure to leave your thoughts in the comment section.

Which team will Erik Karlsson play for at the start of the 2018-19 season?
Vegas Golden Knights 27.41% (773 votes)
Dallas Stars 22.84% (644 votes)
Other (leave in comments) 19.47% (549 votes)
Ottawa Senators 10.25% (289 votes)
New York Islanders 10.14% (286 votes)
Tampa Bay Lightning 9.89% (279 votes)
Total Votes: 2,820

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

Dallas Stars Leading Chase For Erik Karlsson

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After the Ottawa Senators offered superstar defenseman Erik Karlsson a contract that was not well-received, the team gave interested competitors the permission to speak to him about contract terms. NBC Sports’ Kathryn Tappen reported that the Senators’ offer was for eight years at $10MM per season, an amazing amount of money to a layperson but truthfully an insult to Karlsson in light of recent contracts signed by Drew Doughty and John Tavares. As such, Tappen and others have added that other teams are now in hot pursuit and serious trade talks are underway.

As of this evening, the leader in those talks are the Dallas Stars. The Athletic’s Chris Stevenson has heard from a source in the NHL that the Stars have emerged as a front runner for Karlsson and that Dallas and Ottawa are deep in talks about a trade that would include the Norris Trophy winner but not overpaid forward Bobby Ryan, a major hindrance in many teams’ acquisition plans. Stevenson is based in Ottawa and is allegedly close to the Senators and his The Athletic colleague in Dallas, Sean Shapiro, says that he has also heard that the Stars are legitimately interested and that a hypothetical deal is a real possibility.

Immediately, the question is what the potential return for the Senators could be that would both pry Karlsson out of Ottawa but also keep Ryan there. Shapiro believes that any deal for Karlsson would have to include young defenseman Julius Honka, while Ottawa may actually prefer a more established name like Esa Lindell. It would also make sense for the Sens to target the Stars top blue line prospect, 2017 third overall pick Miro Heiskanen. Others who could be part of the package include young two-way centers Radek Faksa or Devin Shore, recently re-acquired winger Valeri Nichushkin, and project forward Riley Tufte. While only time will tell if a trade is completed and what the pieces will be, this is the first time that any specific team has been confirmed to be in real trade talks for Karlsson and it now seems like only a matter of time before the all-word defender is traded, to Dallas or elsewhere.

Senators Give Other Teams Permission To Discuss Contract Extension With Erik Karlsson

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Although the Senators have offered defenseman Erik Karlsson a contract extension as they promised they would, it doesn’t appear like it was well-received.  Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports (Twitter link) that Ottawa has given teams interested in acquiring him permission to discuss a contract extension with the 28-year-old.

Brooks adds that Karlsson is seeking the same contract that Kings blueliner Drew Doughty received at eight years and $88MM.  That appears to be too rich for the Senators and accordingly, it appears that the odds of him playing elsewhere next season have gone up.

Ottawa Offers Erik Karlsson Contract Extension

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The Ottawa Senators kept to their word Sunday as the team offered superstar defenseman Erik Karlsson a contract extension, according to NHL.com’s David Satriano. Terms of the extension offer were not disclosed. Despite the rumors of unhappiness with the ownership and his not willing to accept a “hometown” discount that has led to quite a bit of trade speculation over the past six months, general manager Pierre Dorion said the team had to make one final effort to keep Karlsson in the fold.

“We don’t really want to talk about roster players, contract negotiations, trades, all these things, but I think we owe it to our fans and we made a promise at the town hall that we would make a contract offer to Erik Karlsson and we’ve done so,” Dorion said Sunday.

Karlsson is in the last year of a seven-year, $45.5MM deal that he signed in 2012, which looks like a bargain as his AAV sits at just $6.5MM. However, with the sudden increase in salaries for star defenseman having increased, it’s likely that a new Karlsson deal will break the bank. Several defenseman have cashed in over the past few days, including Drew Doughty (eight years, $88MM, $11MM AAV), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (eight years, $66MM, $8.25MM AAV) and John Carlson (eight years, $64MM, $8MM AAV).

With increased trade rumors over the past week, there still hasn’t been a trade yet. The team has made it clear to teams that they are asking for a big return for their superstar center and have made it even more challenging for teams as they want the team also to take on the contract of Bobby Ryan, which still has four year left at $7.25MM. The Vegas Golden Knights have been the most talked about team since the trade deadline to get a deal done and they still could, but nothing has materialized yet. The Senators still have hope that Karlsson will sign an extension.

“I think Erik wants to be a Senator for life,” Dorion said then. “I don’t want to speak for him, I’ll let him speak for himself. We’ll see what the next few months bring, but if Erik Karlsson is here on July 1, we will be making him a contract offer.”

Senators Add Forward Paul Carey On Two-Way Deal

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Veteran forward Paul Carey is on to his next destination, but was forced to take a two-way deal to get there. Sportsnet reports that Carey has signed a one-year deal with the Ottawa Senators that pays him $700K at the NHL level and $300K at the AHL level. Carey skated in 60 games with the New York Rangers this season.

More to come…

Ottawa Senators Sign Mike McKenna

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The Ottawa Senators will bring back a familiar face in journeyman goaltender Mike McKenna, who previously played for the organization in 2011-12. The team announced a one-year, two-way deal for McKenna, who is currently slotted at the third-string goalie. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch adds that the veteran will make $700K at the NHL level and $175K at the AHL level, where he excelled with the Texas Stars last season.

More to come…

 

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