On the Ottawa Senators …
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen: Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson when asked yesterday about the 10 team no-trade list.
“That’s one of the things that’s in my contract and it’s just a formality and it’s business. I don’t read too much into it,” said Karlsson, who added later he hasn’t had any backlash from anyone in the organization regarding his comments.
Karlsson was asked if the trade talk was becoming a distraction.
“It varies from person-to-person and from personality-to-personality,” Karlsson said. “When you’re in the situation we’re in right now, I’ve been through it before, so I’ve seen multiple different scenarios. I’m probably better dealing with it than some of the other guys.”
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Pierre LeBrun was on TSN 1040 talking about the Ottawa Senators, Erik Karlsson, and Cody Ceci. The Senators are going through a terrible stretch, and they continue to look for a trade to shake things up.
“But I think the real pressure on Pierre Dorion isn’t really what’s happening with Karlsson. I think that’s the last thing he wants to do at this point, is trade Erik Karlsson. But I’ll get back to that in a second. But I think Pierre Dorion is working the phones for sure right now trying to make another trade and trying to shake his team up here.”
LeBrun says there are a bunch of players the Senators would likely listen to trade offers on. Right-handed Cody Ceci is a pending RFA that they will have to make a decision on.
“And he’s a player of interest. He’s a player that other teams have called on a lot over the past couple of years and the answer was always no. But is he a guy that could go now? I think that with a bunch of other guys on that team, I think that’s a possibility. Not saying it will happen for sure, but I’m saying I think that’s a guy that some teams are calling on.”
LeBrun doesn’t think the Senators could allow Erik Karlsson to enter next season without a contract extension in place. The Islanders don’t have a lot of media asking John Tavares questions every day, so they can get away with a superstar playing in the last year of his deal. Don’t think you can have that in a Canadian market.
“So as crazy as it seems that the Senators would ever trade Erik Karlsson, A) you should never be shocked by any trade. All kinds of great players get traded. My point is I don’t think Ottawa wants to do that, but I do think that they’ll get their answer this summer. They’ll know whether or not they can sign him.”