Nashville, Tennessee. – Let’s start by noting that there is no guarantee that Norris Prize Winner Eric Carlson will be traded.
Considering he has four years left on his contract at an average annual value of $11.5 million, it’s going to be a tough decision, even as the Sharks get ready to eat Hat.
You only need to look at the deals Kevin Hayes, Taylor Hall and Ryan Johansen have struck in recent days to understand the economics of the third year of mostly frozen coverage. All three were traded for nothing, with Nashville (Johansen) and Philadelphia (Hayes) owning 50%.
“It’s ridiculous how difficult it is,” the NHL general manager said of transferring money in the current climate.
However, Sharks general manager Mike Greer, Carlson’s camp led by Craig Oster of Newport Sports and Carlson himself are all equally enthusiastic partners in wanting to find a trade option. They are on the same page.
As such, Karlsson has not provided a specific list of teams to the Sharks. Auster gave Greer a fairly open board to fully exploit the market and see what might make sense. He clearly wants to join a playoff team that has a chance of winning.
And at the end of the day, Carlsson has a complete no-action clause that allows him to sign with a team.
But the idea here isn’t to limit Grier’s options as he captures a potential market.
“We’ve talked with Eric and his group, and I think he’d like a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup and I understand that,” Greer said Tuesday afternoon during a media call. “His timeline of where he is in his career doesn’t quite align with where we are in our process of rebuilding this thing.
“We talked to a bunch of teams. There’s serious interest out there, and there are people dipping their toes in the water to see what something might look like.”
But know this, unlike Trade Hall, Johansen, and Hayes, Grier is actually looking for a return for Carlson.
“He’s not someone I’m looking to let go of,” Greer said.
When asked on the call about the examples of Hall and Hayes and the difficulty of moving money around right now, Greer added, “Certainly in the kind of world we still find ourselves in, it’s really hard to get a paycheck. And we understand that at some point it’s probably going to be There is a little generosity on our part.
“But for people who think we’re going to eat 50% of his contract and all that stuff, that probably won’t happen. No offense to Hayes and Hallsy, they’re both very good players and have achieved great success in this league, but Erik is a special player on his journey to becoming “Hall of Fame player. He’s healthy. He proved he was healthy last year. He’s a special player who leads offense like some of the others in this league. He’s not someone we’re going to put aside and ignore when we’re trying to help the organization.”
I understand that the Sharks have talked to several teams, including Toronto, Seattle, and Carolina.
New Leafs general manager Brad Treliving has been known to like to check out the big names in the game, and that may be all he’s done here. Or maybe he’s just really intrigued by what Carlson can do with a pay cut at the Leafs’ blue line.
One thing is certain: Treliving should vacate the positions of Auston Matthews and William Nylander as soon as possible until he understands exactly what he has to work with and whether to allow him to make any further moves. Leafs fans shouldn’t worry about Matthews’ situation. He will sign an extension at some point. He’s not going anywhere.
It’s a Nylander situation that could go either way. I’m told Treliving has met up with Nylander’s agent, Louis Gross, here in Nashville in the last few days. It will be important for Toronto to understand what Nylander has in mind for the extension, so they can see if they can afford it. Treliving a declared lords d’une rencontre avec les media ici à Nashville Mardi that the seule priorité of the l’équipe était of signer Nylander, mais il est clair that his son travail consistse à prendre des appels et à écouter les prospects which peuvent améliorer l’ equipped. You can read in the fact that the Leafs general manager got a glimpse into the Nylander trade market while he focused on wanting to sign him.
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes’ interest in Carlson makes sense given their solid struggles last season. However, like any team trying to make a trade with San Jose from Carlson, the crux of the negotiations comes down to how much the Sharks are willing to eat.
Obviously Carlson being 8 or 7.5 million players differs from Carlson being 9 or 9.5 million players.
Carolina, of note, was traded to San Jose for Brent Burns last summer, so there’s potential for a Burns-Carlson reunion if teams get more serious about trade talks.
But again, as Greer himself noted on his call to the media on Tuesday, he spoke to a bunch of teams.
grumbling elsewhere:
• Some saw Detroit as a logical landing spot for Alex DeBrincat – Detroit was on its way – but my impression of Tuesday’s situation is that the Red Wings didn’t feel close to a deal with Ottawa. I know DeBrincat also had Dallas as one of his favorite destinations, and the stars were in talks with Ottawa about DeBrincat. But given the star’s cap status, they’d have to move the money around somehow. It is unlikely that the stars will be able to do this. They are also still in talks with the suspended UFA Max Domi.
As I reported last week, Senators general manager Pierre Dorion is fine with a first-round pick for 2024, so this week hasn’t been considered a deadline for DeBrincat. There is still time.
But keep in mind again that any team that wants to trade DeBrincat, an accomplished scorer who is only 25 years old, will cost between $8.5 million and $9 million per year for an extension. Again, ceiling space is now an issue almost everywhere. This is partly why this profession is not easy to practice.
• Once the Canadians realized they were holding up Pierre-Luc Dubois, they focused their efforts on Alex Newhawk. This obviously marks a drop in talent from the DuBois, but just as general manager Kent Hughes saw a bull game in Kirby Dash a year ago, he saw one in the 22-year-old Newhawks, who was a first-round pick in 2019. It’s the kind of bet. which seems logical to him. Montreal’s place on the list is constantly changing.
• I spoke with Caps GM Brian MacLellan on Monday, who is as curious as anyone about why Tom Wilson’s name is in the rumor mill. McClellan said he is not talking to Wilson’s teams or looking to move him.
• Once the biggest deal with the Blues fell through because Tore Krogh wouldn’t let go of not being traded to go to Philadelphia, the Flyers cut the deal to Hayes only in the sixth round, eating 50% of Hayes. It’s a tough trade for Philadelphia, but I think Flyers director of football Danny Brier wanted to do a good job with Hayes and give him the fresh start he was looking for.
• I get the impression that Carolina and Philadelphia still intend to try and make the Tony DiAngelo trade work as soon as the league allows. Back to the grumble on Monday where I explained what happened there.
• Agent Mark Levine said on Tuesday that his client, Shane Justesbehery, “will not re-sign with Carolina.” It will become UFA on Saturday.
(Top photo by Erik Carlson: Klaus Andersen/Getty Images)
