Earl Karlsson trade rumors: 5 teams that should make deal

4. Vegas Golden Knights

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the season has been the Vegas Golden Knights. Everybody projected them to be a bottom-five team but instead, they’re sitting pretty at second in the Pacific with a 20-9-2 record and are three games back of the division-leading Los Angeles Kings. That doesn’t make their Twitter account any less annoying, but they deserve credit for their play thus far.

It’s even more impressive considering they’ve gone through five goaltenders and are getting by with an average at best defense. They’ve got some nice pieces on their blue line, but nobody among that group really stands out.

Ever since the Knights came into place, George McPhee hasn’t stopped wheeling and dealing. He’s used his surplus of picks to acquire defensemen like Shea Theodore and to trade away guys like Marc Methot, Alexei Emelin and Trevor van Riemsdyk. Erik Karlsson would be a huge step up from all of those guys, but the Golden Knights remain an attractive trade destination because of all the picks they own – they have 17 in next year’s draft alone – their cap space, as well as the appeal of playing in Vegas.

Perhaps what’s most important for the Senators, if they do trade Karlsson, is that he goes to a contending team and gets as far away from the Atlantic Division as possible. If Karlsson goes to Vegas, he would end any chance of their current run being unsustainable. He would also have the opportunity to reunite with William Karlsson.* And he would turn one of the NHL’s best success stories into a nightmare matchup for opposing teams.

*no relation