Colorado Avalanche Could Still be in the Erik Karlsson Running

While the Colorado Avalanche might still be in the running for defenseman Erik Karlsson, the price might be too high and the timing wrong for such a deal.

The Colorado Avalanche haven’t been the center of any trade rumors recently. Of course, this time last season, all the talk was centered on the Matt Duchene saga. GM Joe Sakic still waited two additional months, but he finally traded one of our best players away — and for a wicked haul.

Well, in this scenario, the Avalanche would be on the other side of the deal. They wouldn’t be trading away, but trading for, in this case franchise defenseman Erik Karlsson currently of the Ottawa Senators.

As of right now, the Avalanche aren’t the center of trade rumors for the elusive Karlasson. However, a trade looks imminent. First, they sent Matt Duchene on the NHL Media Tour:

Then, they made this bizarre video talking about the future… with much maligned (deservedly so) owner Eugene Melnyk being interviewed by defenseman Mark Borowiecki:

I’m not too up on Ottawa Senators culture, but to me this seems like sending Tyson Jost on the media tour and having Mark Barberio or even Carl Soderberg interview not Josh but Stan Kroenke.

And then there’s the fact that, while Karlsson attended the Charity Golf Tournament for the Senators, he refused to talk to the media. He announced he would speak after reporting to training camp for medicals.

How very 2017 Matt Duchene, and we all know how that turned out.

Like I said, Colorado isn’t the team that’s most talked-about in terms of acquiring Karlsson. That distinction goes to the Vegas Golden Knights, who just traded for Montreal Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty in the middle of the night. Could they also pull off a deal to acquire Karlsson? Yes.

But could the Avalanche also pull of such a deal? Maybe. Mostly because we have something Ottawa really, really wants — the 2019 first-round draft pick. And Melnyk just announced the team is in full rebuild, which means they’re going to have a not-winning season.

They might even have a Jack Hughes Sweepstakes season. And that’s ok because Hughes would be ours unless Ottawa coughed up Karlsson to get that draft pick back.

Would Ottawa be that foolish? Well, they alienated their franchise player and then released the above video with the owner who spent all last season berating the fans. Yeah, they would probably be that foolish.

But not outright stupid. Colorado would have to give up more than the draft pick for Karlsson, even though he’s going to be an unrestricted free agent next summer and sure to command around $11 million for the next century. (Ok, eight years, but still.)

The Avalanche might have to cough up Tyson Jost. They might even have to give the rights to Cale Makar.

Is this a deal I want to see the Colorado Avalanche make? Hells to the no. The Avalanche are not in a win-now mode. Yes, we could use Karlsson. But, no, we wouldn’t put him to best effect.

Is this a deal I think the Avs would make? Probably… not. GM Joe Sakic is pretty dedicated to the youth movement. Jost is Duchene’s heir apparent, though the original has already left. Makar might well be Nathan MacKinnon’s heir apparent.

And while Karlsson is hardly an over-age veteran at 28, he is a player with a zombie ankle and off-ice issues with teammates — blame Mike Hoffman all you want, such issues are almost never one-sided. And the Avs pride themselves on the chemistry in their locker room.

So, I’m sure Sakic would do his due diligence if Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion came a-calling. However, I’m confident he wouldn’t beggar the future of the Colorado Avalanche with a deal for Erik Karlsson.