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NHL Trade Rumors: Ottawa Senators will listen to offers for Erik Karlsson

By Dave Stevenson

OTTAWA, ON - JANUARY 06: Ottawa Senators Defenceman Erik Karlsson (65) skates by the bench to celebrate a goal during third period National Hockey League action between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators on January 6, 2018, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
OTTAWA, ON - JANUARY 06: Ottawa Senators Defenceman Erik Karlsson (65) skates by the bench to celebrate a goal during third period National Hockey League action between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators on January 6, 2018, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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According to the latest NHL trade rumors, the Ottawa Senators are willing to listen to trade offers for Erik Karlsson

This season has not gone as planned for the Ottawa Senators. Entering this season, they knew their Stanley Cup window was closing. That’s why the Senators traded for Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene. However, Ottawa currently sits near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. Everyone on the team, including two-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson, is struggling.

Ottawa is considering all of their options. And one of those options is trading Karlsson, according to general manager Pierre Dorion.

"“Our first priority with Erik is to sign him. He’s a special player, but Wayne Gretzky got traded, so, if a team offers you an offer you can’t turn down, you listen. But our first priority is to sign Erik Karlsson and [for] Erik Karlsson to be a Senator for life.”"

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The two-time Norris Trophy winner will be a free agent after the 2018-19 season. It’s not likely the Senators will trade him this year, as they’ll at least see if they can work something out after July 1. Karlsson is not allowed to sign an extension until then.

So far this season, he has 30 points in 37 games. That might sound like a lot, but for Karlsson, that’s a bit of a down year. His 0.79 points per game is his lowest rate since the 2010-11 season. Then again, the Senators rank 28th in goals scored, so that explains the slight downtick.

It says a lot that Ottawa is even willing to entertain offers for him. This suggests the Senators aren’t too confident they’ll be able to keep Karlsson around long-term. If this is the case, it makes all the sense in the world to listen to offers for him.

Next: 4 Teams Who Should Trade For Erik Karlsson

But Ottawa would be unwise to accept anything less than a monumental package for him at this point. After all, Karlsson would be able to influence potentially two postseasons before hitting free agency. Keep in mind he was arguably the best player in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Should Karlsson sign long-term somewhere, that would cram open their Stanley Cup window for quite some time.

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