On the Ottawa Senators and Erik Karlsson …
Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun: The Ottawa Senators know they won’t be making the playoffs this season, but back to back wins while scoring 12 goals gives them a bit of hope for the future.
believes that the only way Erik Karlsson remains with the Senators is if there is a change at the top of the franchise and if that owner has deep pockets and wants to win back the fan base immediately.
The best way to do that would be to get Daniel Alfredsson involved in the ownership group and sign Karlsson to a long-term extension.
Karlsson’s minus 26 can be corrected. He’s put up 37 points in his past 43 games and is only 27 years old.
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Elliotte Friedman was on Sportsnet 960 this past week and was talking about the Ottawa Senators and defenseman Erik Karlsson. Friedman thinks that both sides may have been hoping a deal could have been done at the trade deadline and he doesn’t see how the situation could be rectified with the Eugene Melnyk as the Senators owner.
“But I think this is partly where Eugene comes in. I think there’s a bit of paralysis there in the sense that I think Pierre Dorion knows he has to make a good hockey trade. And if you’re taking Bobby Ryan, what you get back in return is not that good. I think that’s what happened with Vegas. I think Vegas was like, ‘We’ll take Bobby Ryan,’ but they couldn’t make the best deal and that’s why it happened.
“If he’s there long term under this owner, I’ll be shocked. Or he’s doing it for his family – his wife’s from there, she’s pregnant. Maybe he does it for that, and that’s never a bad reason.”