The 2022-2023 season for Erik Karlsson has been one of his best since 2015-2016. Karlsson is on a torrid pace having played 58 games, has scored eighteen goals with 58 assists for 76 points and currently holds -1.
Even though he plays for a very bad San Jose Sharks team, this is quite impressive. During this amazing season, the San Jose Sharks have signalled to the entire NHL that they will sell Karlsson for top dollar. The Norris trophy will be in Karlsson's sights, so his return will be quite impressive.
Fast forward to the last number of days, the news continues to change by the hour and it appears that the Edmonton Oilers are making a hard push to try to acquire the 32-year-old defenseman. It also stands to say that Karlsson is willing to waive his no-movement clause to come to Edmonton according to Chris Johnson.
It appears though that the San Jose Sharks are not willing to retain the proper amount of money to make this trade work. The fourth period has reported that Ken Holland has asked the San Jose Sharks to retain $5 million of his salary whereas the Sharks appear to be only willing to move around 2 to $3 million. If the sharks don't feel they want to hold that much money then this still may not happen.
In my opinion, however, I feel that both teams can find a third party that is willing to take on more of the salary for either a draft pick or a prospect to help all three organizations just like how the Maple Leafs, the Blues and the wild were able to make their trade work two days ago.
