I’m curious how much you’d pay for Karlsson / what your thoughts are on all this. You seem like a very “build through the draft and prospects” type of guy so I’d assume you’re not on board?
The reason you build a farm system to begin with is to give your franchise these types of gamechanging options. And honestly I can see the argument that a top pairing RD might just be what the Oilers need long-term. If it's Karlsson, cool.
But I can't give you a straight answer as to what I'd offer for Erik Karlsson because I don't have a good idea of what the player has left in the tank, what the Sharks are willing to retain or what they're willing to take back in terms of offsetting salary.
A trade of that magnitude is incredibly complicated and would ultimately send shockwaves throughout the roster. Which is the main reason why I find it difficult to see it occurring in-season. But planting those seeds early will give the Oilers plenty of options come the offseason where teams generally decide to change direction. I've alluded to these trades before, which were smaller scale, but there was no chance that Chicago was giving you Kirby Dach at the deadline last season.
If we're showing that we're willing to part with a young, cost controlled player like an Evan Bouchard, or we're willing to listen on our top prospects because we've identified a player we want, maybe a name like Colton Parayko becomes a reality. Or Aaron Ekblad. A package of that magnitude can kick-start a rebuild or completely change the direction a team is trending.
The most important thing that I can say is that if you're making that level of an investment, you need to be getting exactly what you need.