If you had to put your life savings on one team to sign him, the smart bet would be San Jose for the following reasons:
1. Only San Jose can offer an 8th year (helps lessen the impact of state tax)
2. Hasso and Wilson have shown a willingness to pay $13m for Tavares. Most would probably agree that Karlsson is the more impactful player so I see no reason we wouldn't offer whatever $$ Karlsson wants up to and beyond $13m. My impression is the pocket book is open and we will match or exceed whatever anyone else would offer and we would do it for 8 years
3. Doug Wilson and Hasso met with Karlsson and his agent prior to the trade and Wilson is on record saying they made the trade because they felt comfortable that they could offer what Karlsson is looking for (term/$$/location/ect). Wilson is not the type of GM who would just take a swing and mortgage the future the way he did if he didnt feel confident we could re-sign him. My guess is rough numbers were discussed and Hasso gave the thumbs up.
4. We have a track record of resigning our big acquisitions (Burns/Kane being the two recent examples) and players, by all accounts, love playing for the ownership group and love the area.
5. Wilson has a proven track record of keeping the team competitive and retooling despite how high we usually draft. His ability to sign solid depth out of Europe, draft smart, and make massive trades (Boyle, Burns, Heatly, Karlsson, Kane, ect) should be enough proof to show a player like Karlsson we can compete. I assume this is where most will disagree but I think this boards opinion of how far into the future players look for a team to be competitive is overblown and it's very understated how quickly ANY team can be a bottom feeder. I would personally bet on a GM/Team with a proven (and long) track record of success. Karlsson makes such a big impact that just getting into the playoffs with him on a roster gives you a chance to win it all
6. By all recent accounts, he loves the area and the team and is enjoying his time here.
7. The team has been fairly vocal/positive about the prospects of resigning him and they plan to start working on a deal after the All-star game. If you follow the team for as long as most Sharks fans have, you'd know that Wilson is usually fairly reserved/quiet about contract talks. His openness, in my opinion, shows he feels very good about resigning him.
I think that covers just about every talking point that will be brought up in what I'm sure will be a wonderful, calm, and respectful thread. With that said, if he doesn't resign I think it's because he and/or his wife would like to be closer to Ottawa. That's honestly the only reason I can think of aside from something absolutely crazy happening between this post and the end of the season.
