NHL Rumors: Will Ottawa Senators trade Erik Karlsson?

Nobody is untouchable on the Ottawa Senators and that includes captain Erik Karlsson.

After appointing a new general manager and firing head coach Dave Cameron, the Ottawa Senators are looking to make changes to their roster. Senators owner Eugene Melnyk said in an interview on Tuesday that nobody on their roster is untouchable. Yes, that includes likely Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson.

While Melnyk could simply be using this to send a message to the roster, the mere thought of trading such an excellent player is nuts. Karlsson is not a part of the problem in Ottawa. If anything, he’s a part of the solution. The issue is that the Senators don’t have many players who are a part of the solution.

Karlsson is not without his flaws, as he tends to turn the puck over. Then again, that’s true of anyone who handles the puck as much as Karlsson does and has to take as many risks just to put his team in a position to win as Karlsson has had to. He’s put up historic numbers that rival those of Bobby Orr despite not having the talent surrounding him that Orr did. History shows that when teams trade elite talent, they tend to get short-changed in the process.

Perhaps Ottawa’s owner is simply trying to send a message to the rest of the roster. But if the Senators are even entertaining the thought of trading Karlsson, that proves that changes are still needed in Ottawa. And none of those changes involve Erik Karlsson or the roster.

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