After being within one goal from a Stanley Cup Finals berth, the Ottawa Senators have completely fallen apart this season. With the trade deadline approaching later this month, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Senators become sellers at the deadline.
Despite being in the NHL’s basement, Ottawa certainly has some valuable assets. Mike Hoffman will become a UFA during the 2019-20 season, Mark Stone is an RFA next year, but the most coveted Senators’ piece is obviously defenceman Erik Karlsson.
Karlsson will become a free-agent after next season and has already told the media that he expects to be compensated fairly for his skill and contributions to the franchise. Basically, pay me, or I’ll find a team that will do so. Well, reports are coming in that Senators GM Pierre Dorion may be looking to deal the Swedish defenceman before he is able to walk away, leaving the Senators with nothing for their franchise stud.
Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times has reported that fellow Swedish defenceman Victor Hedman could play a huge part in capturing one of the league’s top talents. To intensify the relationship between Tampa Bay and Ottawa, Fluto Shinizawa of the Boston Globe reports that Lightning GM Steve Yzerman could add Brayden Point as trade-bait as well.
In LiteBeat, our deeper look into both sides of the pipe dream of Erik Karlsson/#tblightning. Why Tampa Bay could, and should, be aggressive at deadline, other 'D' options include Green, McDonagh.. #BlueJackets #NYRangers #redwings https://t.co/efQrYAvZQz
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) February 4, 2018
Tampa Bay is certainly gearing up to make a run, but the biggest issue will be the Lightning’s deadline space. Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point are both set to become RFA’s following next season, which means the Lightning may need to shift some money around in order to obtain Karlsson and keep him for the long run.
