Sportsnet: Frank Seravalli on Sportsnet 650 radio on San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlssaon.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Host: “On the San Jose front, what exactly is going on with Erik Karlsson right now?”
Seravalli: “A good question. There seems to be some conversation between Sharks, and I think the best to explain it is, in varying tiers of interest level.
Like, the Carolina Hurricanes were in the mix and talks. They would sort be near the top of interest level I think. Along with the Seattle Kraken. You had some tire kicking from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Some tire kicking from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
And essentially what they wanted to make sure was that Erik Karlsson isn’t being given away for free and just to be able to check the box and say, ‘yeah, we asked and the price just wasn’t palettable for us.’
Now, my understanding is the San Jose Sharks are not will retain much more than 20 percent on Karlsson’s deal, which knocks him down to around $9.3 million. And just take a look at all the teams in the league now, even someone that’s been really prudent with their money, like the Kraken. To be able to wedge $9.3 million onto that team that already needs to re-sign Vince Dunn and Will Borgen and go through their roster, becomes a really difficult trade to pull off.
And I’ve been saying this forever, it one of the most complicated, if it happens, complicated transactions in NHL history. Which is why I still put the likelihood of it happening at like 10 to 15 percent because there is so much to jump through.
And the Sharks are one of those teams that even as they’re bad, they feel the need in their own marketplace to have marketable stars to fill their building. I don’t want to say they’re more gate dependent than other teams but take a look at the Nashville Predators. look what they did this past weekend. Ryan O’Reilly and Luke Schenn and Gustav Nyquist. Like they’re trying to added players even though they might not be a playoff team so that they can sell to their fan base and their market place which is, runs hot and cold at times, that you have a reason to come in and buy tickets.
And I think the Sharks are very much in that category and that’s part of the reason why they’re not just going to cut off their nose and bite their face and trade him for nothing because there’s a certain valuation point at which they think it’s just better to keep him. And I understand that too, I just think from Karlsson’s perspective it kind of feels like now or never.
Like, what happens if he comes back next season and has a 60 point year? There ain’t body that’s signing up, even at $9.3 (million), for that. What if he comes back to earth?
Host: “We’ll see. And I’m with you. I wonder is somebody will pull the trigger on his it. Is it dependent maybe on a team like Carolina doing something with Brett Pesce maybe? Like, does it make sense for them if they can get him off the books or they move him and they swoop in for Karlsson? Does it seem like something has to happen somewhere for somebody to be motivated.”
Seravalli: “Just as a side note, and parentheses, I don’t understand why it makes sense for Carolina at all. Isn’t one of the big theories on why Karlsson returned to being Karlsson this year is because he didn’t have to play in Brent Burns‘ shadow anymore? Why then would you go add him to the same team again?
And by the way, if you’re thinking about it from Carolina’s perspective, how amazing would it be of you have the Sharks paying $6 or $7 million of your defense core to play?
It’s kind of a bananas thing to think about. They’re loaded already. The fact that they were able to add Orlov to that left side. Can go Orlov and then Slavin. It’s a crazy, crazy group like one through five or one through six. I think it’s the best in the league and I don’t think it’s really even close.
So could they move, do they have the flexibility to move out (Brady) Skjei or Pesce or whoever it might be that has a year left on their deal. Ya, I think if you have the opportunity to get your hands on a talent like Erik Karlsson, you do what you can, but still, the amount of hoops, the number of hoops to jump through feels like a lot.”