Erik Karlsson (Part 4)

[CanadienShark]

Who replaces Dillon and Braun say we resign Karlsson and need to shed space for Pavs? And are they capable NHL players or are we gonna be cursing them out whenever they’re on ice?

Vlasic - Karlsson
Simek - Burns
Ryan - Heed

Seems fine to me.

The #7 is a bit of a mystery, but we can find someone adequate for cheap, or someone from within may step up. Hell, I wouldn't be against trying to see if Burns and Ryan can play well together once again to give us 3 very excellent pairings.

Simek - Karlsson
Ryan - Burns
Vlasic - Heed

 

[Pavelski2112]

Vlasic - Karlsson
Simek - Burns
Ryan - Heed

Seems fine to me.

The #7 is a bit of a mystery, but we can find someone adequate for cheap, or someone from within may step up. Hell, I wouldn't be against trying to see if Burns and Ryan can play well together once again to give us 3 very excellent pairings.

Simek - Karlsson
Ryan - Burns
Vlasic - Heed

Out of all the guys we have in the system, drafted or from Europe/college, and the number of options in FA available, I'm not worried about bottom pairing dmen.

 

[fasterthanlight]

If we win a cup I wouldn't care if we lost every single game for the next 5 years

 

[SjMilhouse]

Most Sharks fans believe that Tavares never seriously considered signing in San Jose, and only used the Sharks as leverage to get a better deal from Toronto. That is what other users mean by “pulling a Tavares” in the context of this discussion.

^ this. I'm saying if Karlsson openly knows he isn't going to sign in San Jose (when we can offer him 8x$any money) but still decides to negotiate with the team for the sole reason of getting more money elsewhere, then he's pulling a Tavares.

Obviously there is no like concrete proof that Tavares did that but based on comments/interviews/ect that came out later, I thought I remember he more or less was like "yeah I was never going to sign anywhere but Toronto or NYI and used other teams as leverage". That is the shit that pisses me off.

So as long as Karlsson says thanks but no thanks and doesn't f*** up our free agency as a result by negotiating in bad faith, while it would suck, I fully understand and respect his decision to leave

Edit: I say all this knowing full well that it's a legitimate business tactic and fully in Tavares right to do. But I also have the right to call him a POS for stringing the fan base and management along and distracting us from making moves in the offseason that could actually help the team

 

[hockfan1991]

Yea, there was an article saying as much after he signed. Tbf, I don't remember if he said it himself that San Jose was a possible option, or if people just assumed so for whatever reason.

Combination of things.

We were in need of a 1c

Had the money

Successful on and off the ice franchise not ran in the gutter like many

Him and couture are very good friends

There were lots of things that made people think Sharks

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

Combination of things.

We were in need of a 1c

Had the money

Successful on and off the ice franchise not ran in the gutter like many

Him and couture are very good friends

There were lots of things that made people think Sharks

I think the thing that really made people think Sharks was that he met with Doug Wilson, Peter DeBoer, and Hasso Plattner in Los Angeles and it was all made public.

 

[hockfan1991]

I think the thing that really made people think Sharks was that he met with Doug Wilson, Peter DeBoer, and Hasso Plattner in Los Angeles and it was all made public.

True

Very rare for Plattner to attend games let alone free agent signings, to his credit sales pitch is his game too.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

True

Very rare for Plattner to attend games let alone free agent signings, to his credit sales pitch is his game too.

Right, and that whole thing being made public is a big part of why people here hate Tavares the way that they do.

The entire process frankly humiliated the Sharks. They flown their owner down to LA, went all in on Tavares, and offered him over $2M more than Toronto did. Then he signed with Toronto, posted pictures of himself in Maple Leafs bedsheets, and essentially said that he only considered Toronto and New York.

 

[Lebanezer]

I think the thing that really made people think Sharks was that he met with Doug Wilson, Peter DeBoer, and Hasso Plattner in Los Angeles and it was all made public.

I partially blame the Islanders beat writer Arthur Staple. He kept saying if Tavares leaves the Islanders he’s most likely going to San Jose.

 

[jMoneyBrah]

Right, and that whole thing being made public is a big part of why people here hate Tavares the way that they do.

The entire process frankly humiliated the Sharks. They flown their owner down to LA, went all in on Tavares, and offered him over $2M more than Toronto did. Then he signed with Toronto, posted pictures of himself in Maple Leafs bedsheets, and essentially said that he only considered Toronto and New York.

Who’s humiliated? The Sharks took their best swing at a top free agent and struck out. It wasn’t the first time, it won’t be the last time.

So Tavares took less money to play for his actual hometown team, a literal hometown discount, and on top of the Islanders feeling scorned the Sharks are supposed to feel scorned?

The Sharks got an opportunity to make their case, and apparently couldn’t match the entirely human desire to play for one’s childhood team. Even if Tavares had predetermined he was going to Toronto or NY, as a GM/org you’d at least want an opportunity to make a pitch in the off chance you can change a mind. There’s some quote by a famous hockey player about shots not taken and goals not being generated.

 

[Fraser28]

I don't want to sign Karlsson for what he would get paid, and the 8-year term. His injuries are concerning, he has made a perplexing number of bad reads these Playoffs, and I actually don't like at all how he lost his mind at Dillon. Especially since his own play that game was garbage too. Super hypocritical and a bad teammate. Unless he leads us to the Cup and turns around his defensive game, I do not want to sign him.

 

[OrrNumber4]

Considering what he signed for, it is hard to imagine that he only spoke with the Sharks to bid it up.

 

[Karl Prime]

One thing about Erik, he's a tough son of a gun. Doesn't mind getting hit so long as he makes the play. He did say he has felt great since the playoffs started but I'd take that with a grain of salt. He's not going to tell the Blues in an interview that his groin is bothering him and invite them to be even more physical on him, if that's possible.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

One thing about Erik, he's a tough son of a gun. Doesn't mind getting hit so long as he makes the play. He did say he has felt great since the playoffs started but I'd take that with a grain of salt. He's not going to tell the Blues in an interview that his groin is bothering him and invite them to be even more physical on him, if that's possible.

Yeah, I really hate to see people calling him soft. There are a lot of valid criticisms of him, but I don’t think that is one of them.

I thought he played well tonight. He’s still not as dominant as he was around December or January but if he can play like this for the rest of the way, he’s going to have a major positive impact on the rest of the playoffs.

 

[Jargon]

Yeah, I really hate to see people calling him soft. There are a lot of valid criticisms of him, but I don’t think that is one of them.

I thought he played well tonight. He’s still not as dominant as he was around December or January but if he can play like this for the rest of the way, he’s going to have a major positive impact on the rest of the playoffs.

Agreed, he looked good, far better than the last two Avs games. He just has these games periodically where he makes the dumbest plays shift after shift, doesn’t hustle on defense, etc. it’s all likely due to injury... I think? Or at least, not knowing how to play down to his injured self and trying things he’s normally be able to recover from with his skating.

 

[ChompChomp]

People talk about the Sharks team makeup with EK65 cap wise, his injury risk, and all this stuff, but I think people are missing a larger picture:

As these current playoffs are showing, and as we all suspected, having Burns and Erik Karlsson is a huge reason this team could win a Cup this year a la Pronger and Nieds.

The Sharks are going to bring the dump truck for Erik Karlsson. Book it. He may leave, but the Sharks will try everything in their power to keep him. Why? With him and Burns, they could potentially win several Cups or at least be a team annually making the Finals. If that happens, the Sharks popularity and profile will dramatically increase, especially in the Bay Area. TV ratings will rise and when that shitty tv deal expires, the Sharks will finally be able to command a premium.

That's what it all about for the Sharks business side, and if they feel resigning EK65 gives them the best chance for that scenario to play out, you better believe they aren't going to let themselves get outbid. They could lose him because he just wants to go somewhere else, but it won't be a money issue. The potential long term business benefits that could come because Burns, EK65 and Vlasic put them in the legitimate title hunt every season/actually winning Cups is too great to simply pass up because you don't want to slightly overpay Erik Karlsson.

 

[Karl Prime]

So I saw about halfway through the 3rd, there was a play where EK65 got checked to the ice along the end boards, but got the puck to Dillon, who got it to Pavs, and then out of the corner you see Karl come into play as an outlet option for Joe, while the Blues player that hit him trailed behind. Thought that was a pretty interesting cap to what I was saying about how he plays through contact very well.

 

[LadyStanley]

Speculation

 

[Star Ocean]

Cant you folks give karlsson a break during this cup run? Wait until the final game is played.

His focus is currently to win the cup, contract talks now would be foolish.

 

[Alwalys]

Cant you folks give karlsson a break during this cup run? Wait until the final game is played.

His focus is currently to win the cup, contract talks now would be foolish.

sorry we will stop negotiating and let it play out

 

[CanadienShark]

Cant you folks give karlsson a break during this cup run? Wait until the final game is played.

His focus is currently to win the cup, contract talks now would be foolish.

Err what? We have no impact on the negotiations. We're just speculating what may or may not happen. Don't talk about the contract negotiations in this thread if you don't want to, but it's absolutely a relevant discussion.

 

[spintops]

I know you don't want your team to think about this aspect too much, but - Do you think there is any hesitation to give EK something like 8x11 or 8x12 with Burns earning so much less? "Message it sends to the room and all that blah blah" that EK can conceivably make 50% more per year when Burns has been so much better in the playoffs / healthier / a shark for so much longer.

 

[do0glas]

I know you don't want your team to think about this aspect too much, but - Do you think there is any hesitation to give EK something like 8x11 or 8x12 with Burns earning so much less? "Message it sends to the room and all that blah blah" that EK can conceivably make 50% more per year when Burns has been so much better in the playoffs / healthier / a shark for so much longer.

Honestly this is just the nature of the cap. He's younger, getting a contract later. Its gonna be more than burns.

 

[LadyStanley]

But EK65 has a history of injury. He has not been as impactful with the Sharks (due to missing almost half the season).

I would NOT give him a 8 year deal. I would not give him an 8-digit contract (IOW less than $10m/year). I don't know that I'd give him more than BB88.

 

[spintops]

Honestly this is just the nature of the cap. He's younger, getting a contract later. Its gonna be more than burns.

I agree. And I would still sign him - I think he was finally adjusting to the team before the injury, he could still give us some Norris quality years. That said, it's not a small difference in pay just from the cap rising. 64 mil vs 96M if he got 8x12