“We’re Not Gonna Give You A Haul”: Insider Reveals ‘Hang-Up’ in Karlsson Trade

Monday, July 24, 2023 ,


Erik Karlsson is now a three-time Norris Trophy winner, coming off one of the greatest offensive seasons for a defenseman in NHL history. It stands to reason that the San Jose Sharks don't want to just give him away. But according to NHL Insider Frank Seravalli, that's pretty much what teams are looking for the Sharks to do. And that's what's holding up any deal getting done at this point. 

Servalli says that due to Karlsson's massive cap hit (even if the Sharks retain a couple of million or so of the $11.5M hit), plus his age, and his defensive shortcomings, teams are not willing to give up anything significant. 

The Sharks are still looking for a significant return for Karlsson, and they haven't found one team that's willing to give them anywhere close to that. Those teams have essentially sat back and said... 'we're not giving you anything significant.' 

I think the hang-up has been that... the Sharks are looking for a significant deal and they're not properly valuing the cap space, the freedom, the flexibility of getting off of an $11M player. And that really is what's holding this back. 

(Teams) are saying to the Sharks, 'we'll take him from you, but we're not going to give you a haul.' 

Seravalli goes on to add that San Jose doesn't really want to get nothing, and still retain 20% (or whatever the number is) of Karlsson's massive salary.  

The Pittsburgh Penguins still seem to be the frontrunner in trade talks, but as we reported over the weekend, it seems that a third team will be needed to jump-start the talks, in order to somehow get the Sharks the assets that they're looking for.   

Karlsson himself has also said that he's talked with the Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs and Seattle Kraken, in addition to the Penguins, in trying to secure a trade. 

Photo: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports



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