SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks and representatives for defenseman Erik Karlsson are reportedly on the same page in terms of trying to move the two-time Norris Trophy winner to more of a championship-contending team.
Sharks management met with Karlsson’s agents from Newport Sports Management last week, according to Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic, and agreed that a trade could be in order with San Jose in an apparent rebuilding state under general manager Mike Grier.
Reaching this point was not necessarily hard to predict.
Karlsson has repeatedly said he wants to win, having now spent four straight playoff-less seasons with the Sharks. While he and his family like San Jose and his mind and body are in a good place, it likely does not make sense for him to remain with the Sharks if the franchise needs more years to retool after a 22-44-16 season.
Asked in April about potentially playing for another team in the fall, Karlsson, who was surrounded by trade rumors almost all year, said, “I think I’ve been pretty open about that since all this started, that I do want to win. I do feel like I still have it in me to help a team achieve that and at the same time, I do enjoy it here. I like it here. I always have and we’ll see where it all ends up.”
Perhaps Karlsson’s Sharks teammates already have some idea. Tomas Hertl, asked about Karlsson’s future that same April day, got emotional when asked what it would be like not seeing No. 65 in teal next season.
“It will be tough because he’s one of the greater offensive (players) in NHL and … it will be hard,” Hertl said. “You don’t know if he will get traded. But it’s tough to say anything right now because you don’t know what will happen.”
Any Karlsson trade would certainly be complex, with the 33-year-old midway through an eight-year, $92 million deal that carries an average annual value of $11.5 million, the highest among any NHL defenseman. He has a full no-movement clause with veto power over any potential deal Grier might bring his way.
But there could be more teams open to acquiring Karlsson now after he played all 82 games and collected 101 points in the most prolific season for any NHL defenseman in 31 years. The salary cap, projected to be $83.5 million for next season, is expected to rise significantly in 2024 and 2025 – past $90 million — lessening the percentage that Karlsson’s contract would count against the cap.
Let’s be frank, too: Karlsson’s trade value may never be higher.
“There’s a lot of moving pieces to a deal like that,” Grier said at the end of the regular season when asked about trading Karlsson. “I think it’s something that’s definitely easier in the offseason where teams can kind of get themselves prepared and make the moves they need to make to take on a player like Erik.
‘I would imagine there would be more interest in him, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
Earlier this year as the trade deadline approached, Grier was reportedly asking for three first-round draft picks for Karlsson and was willing to retain around 18 percent of his cap hit. Grier disputed that report to some degree, but nevertheless, the ask was substantial.
Grier would probably need to lower his asking price to get a deal done. But he made it clear that this wouldn’t be a clearance sale. He still has to have the Sharks’ best interests at heart, especially since the team doesn’t want to languish near the bottom of the standings for too much longer.
“Sure, it would be good for us to gain cap space, but you’re also looking at a 100-point, right-shot (defenseman) who was pretty dominating and is still young,” Grier said.
“It’s not something that we’re looking to give him away just to get cap space. I think we have an idea of what we think he’s worth and what we should get in return and then we’ll just kind of leave it at that. Like any deal, there’s give and take on both sides and the balance of yes, getting some cap space, but also getting what we feel is a good return for him.”
Grier had the same experience last season. With Brent Burns wanting to join a winning team, Grier, a mere eight days after he was officially named general manager, sent Burns to Carolina for center Steven Lorentz, goalie Eetu Makiniemi and a 2023 third-round draft pick. The Sharks also retained $2.72 million of Burns’ $8 million cap hit.
Grier also kept some of Timo Meier’s cap hit in that deal with New Jersey on Feb. 26. NHL teams are only allowed to retain salary on three players at a time.
Asked why the Sharks didn’t retain some of Nick Bonino’s salary in a three-team trade involving Montreal and Pittsburgh on March 3, Grier said the team “wanted to keep one open in case something happens down the road.”
All of the league’s GMs will be in Nashville in less than two weeks. The NHL Awards, where Karlsson is considered the favorite to win a third Norris, are on June 26, and two days later, the NHL Draft gets underway with the first round.
The Burns trade happened on the first day of free agency, July 13. This year, the first day of free agency is July 1.
Whether a Karlsson deal can be consummated by then is unclear. What wasn’t hard to forecast was seeing the Sharks and Karlsson reach this point.
“Karl’s a big part of this team,” Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro said. “You can’t really put it into words. I think we all know the impact, the loss that we’re going to have if he’s not here.”