It's Presidents' Week over on TSN1040 and for the first time in recent memory, Trevor Linden won't be repping the Canucks with Sekeres and Price.
Safe to assume that this will be Wednesday's first line of questioning for Jim Benning?
As far as rumours go, this one lands high on the 'believability' rankings. When insisting that he had nothing to do with Linden's departure last month, Benning told
Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet "I have a hard enough time finding a defenceman who can help our power play. I don’t have time for politics."
It's undeniable that Karlsson would be a tremendous fit with the Canucks—that elusive elite right-shot defenseman who can play 30 minutes a night and anchor a power play. Since the end of the last lockout, Karlsson leads all NHL defensemen with 369 points and 136 power-play points in 411 games—despite having missed 31 games of the 48-game 2012-13 season with that nasty Achilles injury. Karlsson's also second in average ice time behind only Ryan Suter over that six-year stretch, at 27:23 per game.
Karlsson has been so good for so long that it's easy to forget that he has just turned 28 years old. There is some concern that his ankle surgery one year ago might have a long-term impact on his best skill, his skating, but he says he's not concerned.
Afer playing in the RBC Canadian Open Championship Pro-Am in Oakville in late July, Karlsson told
Chris Stevenson of The Athletic that the ankle is feeling fantastic.
“I think it’s better now than it was before because you work on it so much,” he said. “I’m very optimistic moving forward from here. It shouldn’t be an issue for me whatsoever, so that’s nice.”
Could he put a percentage on it?
“110 (per cent) probably,” he said, “it’s that good.”
A reminder of what Karlsson can do: even with his ankle rehab and recovery, the loss of his unborn child, the bullying scandal that rocked the Senators locker room and playing on a discombobulated, terrible team, he still put up 62 points in 71 games and averaged 26:44 of ice time last season. The Canucks' top point-producing defenseman, Alex Edler, had 34 points and the entire blue line managed 122 points in total.
On his own, Karlsson had 18 power-play points—and his career high was 31 in 2013-14. The entire Canucks blue line 32 points with the man advantage last season—on a power play that was much improved from previous years.
Can you imagine Karlsson running the blue line, setting up Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson with the man advantage?
If the Canucks can find a deal that works for the Sens and includes a long-term extension for Karlsson, I'm in.
Remember, it was Benning's admission that he'd called the Montreal Canadiens to inquire about P.K. Subban two years ago that earned him his $50,000 tampering fine. He likes those right-handed star defensemen! I don't expect he'll be quite so candid on the radio today; we'll likely hear something about "doing whatever we can to make the team better" and "being patient."
What would it take to get Karlsson out of Ottawa?
For starters—the Canucks would have to be one of the teams that's not included in Karlsson's 10-team limited no-trade clause. Even if they are, there might be some wiggle room now, thanks to Vancouver's deep and impressive prospect pool. The Canucks finally have a group that could be enticing for a star player to join.
But it's not a stretch to imagine that Karlsson might be angling to play out his contract in Ottawa, then sign on with his pirate buddy Victor Hedman and the very good Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019-20. The Canucks could probably offer more money, but the Lightning play in a market with no state tax so those two factors could balance out.
Earlier in the summer, it was rumoured that a deal that would send Karlsson to Dallas was very close, but the sticking point was the Stars' reluctance to include their elite young defense prospect Miro Heiskanen. This probably would be the equivalent ask from the Canucks:
Honestly, I'd be most worried about the first-rounder, with the Canucks hosting the draft next June. Surely the team would want to hang onto its top pick, especially if it means a crack at Jack?
Apparently, Vancouver's also just as disinterested in parting with Quinn Hughes as the Stars were in dealing Heiskanen.
Currently, Vancouver is showing just over $9 million in space with 23 players signed—and Derek Dorsett's additional $2.65 million will go onto long-term injured reserve as soon as the season begins. Karlsson's scheduled to make $6.5 million this season, in the last year of his current contract, so the Canucks would have to clear a little bit of additional cap space if they were to help out Dorion by also taking on the contract of Bobby Ryan, which is $7.25 million for four more years.
With everything that has happened in Ottawa over the past year, Pierre Dorion may not have the same luxury of time that Joe Sakic did when he was able to wait out the market and get his asking price when he dealt Duchene last November. It's not hard to imagine Dorion being under pressure to deal Karlsson before the season begins, which is probably why these rumours are popping up now.
If the asking price does come down, maybe the Canucks will be in a position to get in on the bidding. But I'm sure the Stars, the Golden Knights and probably at least 20 other teams will also want a seat at the table.
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