Sean Shapiro of The Athletic: (mailbag) The Dallas Stars were the front-runners for Erik Karlsson at one point. They weren’t interested in taking on Bobby Ryan, and they were at no point going to include prospect Miro Heiskanen.
The Stars remain interested, but they wouldn’t do a deal if felt they wouldn’t be able to sign him to an extension.
Adrian Dater: Haven’t heard anything with regards to any Colorado Avalanche interest in Karlsson.
Chris Nichols of Nichols on Hockey: Elliotte Friedman was on Sportsnet 960 yesterday talking about if there is anything new on the Erik Karlsson trade front.
“And it makes sense. It’s the end of the summer. I had a couple of guys tell me yesterday, ‘You know, one of the things that really helps is a lot of the reporters aren’t covering hockey right now. They’re doing their secondary things, and they’re not looking that deeply into it. So you kind of have a bit of a quieter time to be able to do things. And I think there were some teams that were looking to take advantage of that.
“I don’t think there’s anything imminent, but I do think it’s picked up and we’ll see if we get some momentum here over the next few days. I think the thing is trying to separate the serious teams from the ones who are kind of kicking tires.”
Friedman was later asked if he thinks there is any chance the Ottawa Senators and Karlsson are able to reach a long-term extension.
“Not under this ownership,” surmised Friedman. “I have said a couple of times that I thought if the team was sold or he believed the team was going to be sold that might change things. I just don’t see it under this ownership. I just feel that he doesn’t think they’re going to have a chance to win.”
