"I'm going to get what I'm worth"

[Puck_Pun]

Article

 

Well, he's stating the obvious of course, but it's important to say given Ottawa's history of lowballing important players. With a cap rise coming up there's no excuse for them to not offer him something good.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Dilemma indeed for Ottawa.

 

Not unlike some other teams recently who have either decided to keep their star players long term or make a trade for a large return.....big difference here is, Karlsson, right out of the gate, is putting Sens management on notice (and any other prospective suitors for that matter) that he will be wanting top dollar and term.

 

So the situation doesn't sound complicated (it's quite simple from what I can see), but it IS something management will have to gnaw on for a while:  Do you pay Karlsson market value and run the risk of not being able to ice a competitive team around him, or trade him before it comes to that, get a nice haul and start over again with quantity and quality of picks and players?

 

I usually tend to lean towards paying a player what he is worth, simply because I always hear about teams bemoaning that "Oh, we wish we had a number one Centerman", "Oh we wish we had a number one netminder", or "Oh we wish we had a number 1 defenseman".

 

Well, Ottawa, you have one.

And when you have one, and you want to keep him, you need to pay him at whatever the market is set at.

 

The ONLY way I would advocate NOT giving Karlsson a max contract is if the Sens KNOW they have pretty good replacements in the pipeline.

Perhaps no single defenseman can replace Karlsson (let's face it, he wouldn't be as sought after if his ilk were available at any time), but if they have maybe two or three guys who are above average who can come in and begin, as a unit, to replace the production of #65, then, and only then, would I consider trading Karlsson for a big haul to supplement any replacements coming in.

 

I don't know the Sens system enough to know whether that is a good plan or not.

If they DON'T have good replacement D, then it becomes a no-brainer:  Sign the man, keep him happy there, then do the best you can to ice a competitive team using whatever money is left for the life of his contract.

 

A tightrope walk of a job for a GM, but not impossible.

 

If, at some point down the line after Karlsson is given his max deal, and the Sens have honestly tried to get quality guys in there to help Karlsson, and the Sens STILL struggle, then #65 really can't complain too much, as he has to know going in, that if he is going to occupy a large chunk of the team's cap, then middling and budget contracts will have to suffice to round out the team.

 

But yea, I would say pay the man.....unless you have a very solid defensive corp coming up in the near future.

[OccamsRazor]

15 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

A tightrope walk of a job for a GM, but not impossible.

 

Drew Doughty will be in the same boat come next year too. 

 

He is making 7 mill for the next two seasons.

 

Both 27.

 

Both righties.

 

 

What will the Kings and Sens do with them resign??

 

Or trade for a haul???

[Puck_Pun]

41 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

But yea, I would say pay the man.....unless you have a very solid defensive corp coming up in the near future.

 

Their farming system is... Not so good. Perhaps it'll change with their relationship with Belleville, but it's a new one so it's far too early to say. But with that said while they have some good players in the wings (Colin White is a forward with promise for example), how it pans out is a dice roll.