On the Ottawa Senators …
Amir Basu: Shawn Simpson on TSN 1050: “This is the problem on and off the ice, there is no plan, this is a team that doesn’t have a president or hockey operations, this is a team that is bringing back a coaching staff that finished 30th in the league and wasn’t very well coached.”
On the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning …
Don Brennan: From a source that “has a great batting average” said that he’s “very comfortable” with another source that tells him Erik Karlsson will end up with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Shawn Simpson: With the trade talk that Karlsson would be heading to the Lightning, “If that’s the case, let’s see how much power the Karlsson camp pulls vs Sens return.”
Joe Smith of The Athletic: The Lightning are still in the mix for Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson, along with the Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights, San Jose Sharks and Columbus Blue Jackets.
“(Yzerman) knows he has a window, and he’s not going to like that Toronto got Tavares,” an Eastern Conference executive told The Athletic. “It’s important for him to get ahead of Toronto. He’ll be in (Karlsson talks) with both feet.
“Can he have a package to deliver Karlsson? It’ll be interesting to see.”
The Senators have given teams permission to speak with Karlsson’s camp about an extension.
The Lightning have just over $4 million in salary cap space for next season. They felt they had the money for John Tavares, so they might be thinking they could fit in Karlsson.
Trade options to clear salary for next season and future years could include Tyler Johnson ($5 million), Ryan Callahan ($5.8 mill), Braydon Coburn ($3.7 mill) and Alex Killorn ($4.45 mill). All of the above some versions of NTC or NMCs.
The Senators would likely be looking at Mikhail Sergachev in any deal.
Nikita Kucherova and Brayden Point will be RFAs after next season.