The Sharks have revealed their absurd asking price on Erik Karlsson, which should scare a lot of teams off
With the NHL's Trade Deadline still a little over 7 weeks away, several bubble teams are trying to figure out whether or not they're going to be contenders or punt and trade for assets. The San Jose Sharks are not one of those teams as they are currently 5th last in the NHL's standings with a 13-22-8 record. They'll almost certainly be sellers.
As far as what they possess that could be of interest to other teams is a prized, offensive-minded, super-star defenseman with term that is currently 7th in the NHL in points, and can be attained for the right price. What's the catch? Well for starters he carries a cap hit of $11.5 million for the next 4 years.
There were reports earlier in the season that Karlsson - who carries a NMC - wants to remain in San Jose for personal reasons. It looks like he's a little more open to the idea of a trade lately, which helps the rebuilding Sharks greatly. They understand the cap hit is egregious, so they have laid out the terms of a potential deal.
For teams that are interested in the 2-time Norris Trophy Winner they will need to shell out 3 first round picks and the Sharks will be willing to retain a maximum of 18% of his cap hit - which amounts to around $2.07 million per season, dropping his AAV to below the $10M threshold.
With these limitations now out in the open, is there anyone that would be willing to take on Karlsson's knocked down cap hit of $9.4 million? Frank Seravalli at Daily Faceoff believes that a homecoming could be in order with the Ottawa Senators and then wonders if other teams like the Seattle Kraken, Winnipeg Jets, Columbus blue Jackets, Washington Capitals, and even the Toronto Maple Leafs would be willing enough to make such an aggressive move.
Even with a renaissance season under way with 13 goals and 56 points in just 43 games, it's still hard to fathom many teams being able to take on such a sizeable cap hit for the next 4 years. He will be under contract until he's 37 years old and his track record in relation to his health isn't justifiable for that asking price.
After suiting up for every game between 2013-14 to 2015-16, Karlsson's numbers dropped to 77 games in 2016-17 out of 82, 71 in 2017-18 out of 82, 53 in 2018-19 out of 82, 56 in 2019-20 out of 70, 52 in 2020-21 out of 56, and then 50 in 2021-22 out of a possible 82. That amounts to 95 games missed in 6 seasons.
The silver lining is that whenever he is in the lineup, he is still producing at an elite level. 518 points in 627 games with the Ottawa Senators, which was then followed up by 198 points in 254 games with the San Jose Sharks.
If the Sharks are willing to retain a little bit more, and they should, a little more flexibility may help them move him. However, that's the asking price for now and perhaps someone is desperate enough to take on the gamble of 3 first round picks and a $9.4 million cap hit until 2027.
| POLL | ||
13 JANVIER | 246 ANSWERS The Sharks have revealed their absurd asking price on Erik Karlsson, which should scare a lot of teams off Is Karlsson worth three 1st round picks? | ||
| Yes | 10 | 4.1 % |
| No | 190 | 77.2 % |
| Not a chance - maybe two 1sts | 46 | 18.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
