Quote:
Originally Posted by _Drogo_
I play rec hockey with a guy who said he went to high school with Hoffman (and his girlfriend, they've been together since high school apparently). He claimed that no one who knew them was surprised and that they were both "a piece of work".
Regardless of how much of the nonsense we hear is true or not, it completely tanks Hoffman and Karlson's trade value. One or both has to be moved and everyone knows it. Ottawa should get Bergevin on the phone, he'd probably overpay for Hoffman and say to himself "I'll just turn him into a center!!!"
I mean, it's definitely tanked Hoffman's trade value but I don't really understand why people think it'll do the same to Karlsson's.
1) It doesn't really matter that teams know the Sens will be trading Karlsson. That's already pretty obvious since they were allegedly minutes away from trading him at the deadline. It's sort of been understood that Karlsson and Melnyk simply can't co-exist anymore and since Melnyk doesn't look to be going anywhere any time soon, Erik will be packing his bags.
2) He's still Erik ****ing Karlsson. I'd bet there will be at least a dozen--maybe more--teams interested in acquiring him. That's more than enough to build a market. The thought of trading him makes me borderline suicidal but we'll get a decent package for him.
3) Some people have said: Why would any team trade for him when they could just sign him in free-agency a year from now? Look, this is a guy who has already sustained two career-threatening injuries to his lower body. He's also already divorced ($$$). I don't think for one second he'd risk playing next season without a contract extension. I think if any halfway competitive/stable team acquires him and offers him like $10M AAV for 8 years, he snap signs. I'm convinced the Rangers will make a strong push for him.
also lol bergevin oh no baby what is you doin