December 2017 or January 2018, when signs already pointed to Karlsson looking forward towards UFA, before the team went into a complete tailspin, and before the locker room conflict surfaced.
You would have gotten a lot more value for a (at the time) top-10 player who was signed at 6.5 million per season for the next 1.5 years.
Would it have been a difficult decision to make? Yes, but it's the type of proactive decision that should have been made.
It's not like Karlsson turning down the Senators offer in July was a surprise that caught them off guard. Everyone in the world knew he wasn't re-signing.
Except I don’t think you’re considering that it’s not the best time for other teams.
I mean it’s easy to say that we should trade EK when he’s at his best and available. The reality is that it always takes two to tango, and it takes even more than two to get a bidding war going.
Teams would need cap space, they would need to know if they were playoff bound, and then they would have to be willing to make an offer that is acceptable. Not an easy set of circumstances to line up, and certainly not as easy as you’re making it.
Teams weren’t lining up for EK when he actually did come available, and this was at a time when teams had space and were forming their rosters as opposed to being set like they would be when you’re suggest was a better time, what makes you think more teams would have lined up at an even worse time roster-wise?
Then of course there is the thought that we actually have no idea whether PD had an idea of what and who was interested at the time you mentioned. Perhaps it was considered and was not deemed optimal.
It’s fine to have an opinion, but there really is no reason to be so sure about it. It’s not like the time frame you mentioned is a time when most such deals are made normally anyways.
In the end the trade is tarting you look really strong, sooooo maybe the GM traded EK at just the right time?