Fansided

5 NHL teams John Carlson should stay away from in 2018-19

By C.L. Kohuss

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 05: John Carlson #74 of the Washington Capitals celebrates after scoring a first period goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena on May 5, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 05: John Carlson #74 of the Washington Capitals celebrates after scoring a first period goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena on May 5, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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BUFFALO, NY – March 29: Detroit Red Wings center Frans Nielsen (51) and Detroit Red Wings right wing Anthony Mantha (39) celebrate a goal during an NHL game between the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres on March 29, 2018 at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY. (Jerome Davis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY – March 29: Detroit Red Wings center Frans Nielsen (51) and Detroit Red Wings right wing Anthony Mantha (39) celebrate a goal during an NHL game between the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres on March 29, 2018 at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY. (Jerome Davis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

2. Detroit Red Wings

Unless the Detroit Red Wings do something about a few of their ludicrous contracts (Frans Nielsen), they won’t have a legitimate shot at signing Carlson, anyway. Anthony Mantha, Dylan Larkin, and Andreas Athanasiou are restricted free agents. Those three will take up most of the $19 million to $24 million in cap space. But even if they somehow clear enough room to make a strong pitch to the star defenseman, this is a no-go.

Even with the sixth overall pick in the draft, Detroit is not ready to contend with any of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. We’d hate to see Carlson have five or six years worth of career swallowed up by a team that either won’t make the playoffs until his contract is up or will perennially get booted first-round. We have no doubt that the Red Wings have a group that could grow over time and make some noise down the road, but that road is far away.

They have a lot of work to do. Adding a player of Carlson’s caliber would be a great start, but as we said at the beginning, this is about his best interest. It is not about the best interest of the team. Detroit is simply not the smartest option for a guy in the prime of his NHL life who in all likelihood wants to win multiple championships during whatever contract he takes. Would he find that in the Motor City? Nope. Not a chance that he does. Moving along.

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