The Washington Capitals and Vegas Golden Knights may still be battling it out for the Stanley Cup but it’s already starting to feel like the NHL off-season is in full swing.
In just a little over two weeks, all 31 teams will gather in Dallas for the NHL Entry Draft. And while the focus of those two days is always on the young kids accomplishing their life-long dream, it’s also a time when trade talks pick up around the league.
Yesterday, the crew at TSN got the ball rolling with their always popular Trade Bait board. Although the summer time version probably didn’t go over too well in the Nation’s Capital.
That’s because the name at the top of the list is Erik Karlsson. Just as it was in the days leading up to the trade deadline. Despite Pierre Dorion clearly stating that Karlsson will not be traded at the Draft and despite the Sens GM saying the plan is to offer him a contract on July 1st, the talk continues.
Make no mistake about it though, the insiders that put this list together are speculating.
Nobody, and that includes both Dorion and Karlsson, knows exactly how things will play out this summer. While Dorion is telling the truth when he says they intend to make Karlsson an offer on July 1st, he’s not going to hang up the phone if teams start making offers in the days leading up to the Draft. That’s the reality of the situation the Senators are in right now and Dorion would not be doing his job if he didn’t listen.
Vegas was apparently had interest at the deadline and you would think they’ll make another pitch this summer.
But it really will take a massive offer for the Senators to pull the trigger on a Karlsson trade before they have a chance to present their contract offer to him on July 1st.
Karlsson wasn’t the only Senator on the board.
At number three on the list- Mike Hoffman.
His name has been in the rumour mill since about a month before the deadline and he’s still there heading into the summer. Darren Dreger went so far as to suggest that he would be surprised if Hoffman doesn’t move at the Draft. The Senators have set the bar high on a potential Hoffman deal but to this point, no team has been willing to meet the asking price.
It would not be surprising to see the Senators ask for something similar to what the Carolina Hurricanes are looking for in a Jeff Skinner trade. And that’s a first round pick and a quality prospect or a young player already playing in the NHL.
The St. Louis Blues had serious interest in Hoffman at the deadline with Robby Fabbri believed to be a part of those discussions. Fabbri is an RFA looking for a new deal this summer. The Blues currently own Winnipeg’s first round pick at 29th overall. Edmonton seems like a good fit too. On Insider Trading last night, Dreger suggested that the Senators currently have multiple offers on Hoffman.
One thing is for certain- based on everything I have heard and what is currently being talked about in the rumour mill, it really seems like at least one of these two will be on the move this summer.
Oh and if you don’t want to hear these rumours about Ottawa’s best players, I would suggest staying off the internet for the next month or so.
Because this is only the beginning.
Oh and to the Ontario residents among us…VOTE!
