A season ago, it would have been unfathomable to think Karlsson would ever be considered in a potential trade. Now, that may become a grim reality for the Sens faithful.
TSN has released their Trade Bait board, and Karlsson is at the top of the list. Hockey writer and insider Travis Yost believes Tampa Bay could be the potential landing spot for the Swedish defenceman.
Tampa Bay continues to aggressively pursue an Erik Karlsson trade. Still have interest in other defensive options across the league. Will upgrade somewhere.
— Travis Yost (@travisyost) February 21, 2018
Karlsson has made it known that he doesn’t expect to take a hometown discount after his contract expires, which is fair as this is a business. In January, Senators GM Pierre Dorion made note that “even Wayne Gretzky got traded.” Dorion has signed a three-year extension with the club and made it clear that his top priority would be to re-sign Karlsson, but wouldn’t shy away from listening to offers.
If the Senators manage to deal Karlsson, they need to go full rebuild. Even if Karlsson stays and they manage to pay Erik what he wants, it’s going to be expensive. Is a rebuild inevitable? Players like Derick Brassard, Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman, J.G. Pageau and Zack Smith have all been linked to potential deals, so the band may be completely different come next season.