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Rumor: Could Erik Karlsson be headed to the Stars?

By C.L. Kohuss

TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 27: {L-R} John Klingberg #3 of the Dallas Stars and Erik Karlsson #65 of the Ottawa Senators warm-up prior to the 2018 GEICO NHL All-Star Skills Competition at Amalie Arena on January 27, 2018 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 27: {L-R} John Klingberg #3 of the Dallas Stars and Erik Karlsson #65 of the Ottawa Senators warm-up prior to the 2018 GEICO NHL All-Star Skills Competition at Amalie Arena on January 27, 2018 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images) /
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With the NHL rumor mill now in full effect, could the Ottawa Senators be sending Erik Karlsson to Dallas?

If sources, reports and rumors are to be believed, we could finally see an end to this whole Erik Karlsson debacle once and for all sometime in the near future.

While speculation has persisted since last season as to what the Ottawa Senators will do with the two-time Norris Trophy winner, the mill has started churning hotter than ever in the few days since free agency began.

For its part, Ottawa has already offered Karlsson an extension. Now it seems the Sens have taken to the phone to hear what everyone is willing to deal.

Chief among these reports is that the Vegas Golden Knights and New York Rangers are heavily involved, as are about six other clubs, at least. But one team that hasn’t found much play in these discussions is the Dallas Stars. That is, until now.

If true, this could be a major coup for a team looking to upgrade its defense and roster overall, considering no one has yet had them pegged as a frontrunner. Of course, the price will be major pickings from the Stars prospect pool and/or current assets already at the NHL level. How far are they willing to bend to land another superstar?

To note, this is purely rumor until further notice, but one piece that’s sure to be dangling out there is Julius Honka, the former first rounder for Dallas in 2014 who’s not yet found a home outside of the AHL, though it hasn’t been without fan scrutiny and backlash.

One reason for that is Dallas is getting pretty crowded on the backend. They just signed Stephen Johns to a multi-year extension, John Klingberg and Esa Lindell are locked up (for now) as the first pair, Marc Methot is contracted for at least one more season, they signed Roman Polak on Day 1 of free agency, and third overall pick Miro Heiskanen is coming sooner rather than later.

The easy way of course to solve the problem is to simply trade Honka away. General Manager Jim Nill did just this last year when a logjam on the blue line caused him to trade Jamie Oleksiak to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It will take more than Honka, though, to land Karlsson. Or not? We’ve seen Nill pull magic before, nabbing Tyler Seguin from the Boston Bruins for what we’d probably regard as less than peanuts today.

We’ll keep you updated as this develops.

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