On the Ottawa Senators and Erik Karlsson …
Ken Warren: GM Pierre Dorion said he won’t trade Erik Karlsson at the Draft in June.
TSN 1200: Dorion on Karlsson: “At the end of the day, it will be his choice. If we offer him a fair contract and he doesn’t want to sign here, then we will have to look at other options. The ball will be in his court.”
Ian Mendes of TSN: The Senators have their internal budget, so getting Karlsson re-signed is easier said than done. If Karlsson were to speak with teams during his free agent window (next year) and it got into a bidding war for him, Melnyk admits they may not be able to offer the most money.
“If it’s a question of dollars, there are teams who can outgun us,” Melnyk said. “The cap gives us a fighting chance. There’s only so far you can go – but we’re going to go as far as we can.”
Murray Pam of Sporting News: Karlsson was aware of all the trade rumors at the deadline and knew what could end up happening.
“There’s always the possibility that’s going to be the case, unfortunately. It’s not what I hope for. It’s not something that I plan on happening. Again, what we went through this year, there are going to be a few changes. Hopefully, I’m not one of them. I’m going to have to deal with that as I move along this summer. I’m still hopeful the puck I picked up is not going to be the last,” Karlsson added.
Karlsson realizes the Senators are a few years away from seriously contending, but is hopeful that GM Pierre Dorion wants to build around Matt Duchene, Mark Stone and himself.
“I hope it doesn’t come to that. We’re going to need a lot of younger guys to come and do well. I do think the program we do have, and the guys that we’ve drafted are ready to step in (Drake Batherson, Logan Brown, Alex Formenton) and become full-time NHLers. It doesn’t mean they’re going to be the player they’re going to be eventually next year, and the year after that. But I do think there’s a bright future to win here,” Karlsson admitted. “Whenever that is, I’m not really sure. I do think with the core guys we do have and the young guys coming in, this is a team I’d love win with sometime in the future.”