If I were Ken Holland, although I’d think long and hard about this trade, I would probably still pass on it in the end. The reason why is Karlsson has two big red flags on him right now:
- His shooting percentage last season was more than 5% over his career average. Yup, his career average is 6.9% and he finished at 12% last year. He’d never even finished over 10% in his career prior to last season. Does that bode well for the player going forward? I think not as he’s unlikely to duplicate that.
- Erik Karlsson is well known for being terrible defensively and is a high-risk, high-reward player. Is this the player type we want to introduce into the Oilers lineup next season? Do you really think we need this type of chaos on the roster? I think not. Ceci is a much better fit from a defensive standpoint, and we’ve already got him in our lineup. If we’re going to change personnel I’d prefer someone more defensively responsible, not less.
Honourable mention: One more thing in regards to Erik Karlsson – the last time I wrote about Erik Karlsson rumours I posted this and I still have the same concern with him – he just turned 33 not too long ago and his contract runs for four more seasons, which means he’ll be 37 by the time it ends. Karlsson has played a feature role on every team he’s played for in Ottawa and San Jose. How long would it be before age catches up to him and his contract becomes a burden to the team? If he slows down physically even at $5.75 million that’s going to be a tough contract to move.
What do you think? Would you still make this trade? Hit me up on Twitter.