Anaheim Ducks: Erik Karlsson trade to Pacific Division is “Very Close”

All summer long, the NHL and its fan have been on the Erik Karlsson Watch. The where will he land and for how much debate has raged with fans trying to see if the cap hit and prospects can work for their teams. Well as we approach August we may finally have an answer and its not the Anaheim Ducks.

I have been wishing and a hoping all summer that Anaheim Ducks GM Bob Murray had some tricks up his sleeve. That he would put the league on notice by acquiring the biggest defensive fish on the pond to put the Ducks over the top. If this report is to be believed then it looks like Murray took his rod and reel and went home.

HockeyBuzz.com’s Eklund had Kevin Allen of USA Today on his podcast yesterday. During the podcast which you can listen to and read about here: Allen dropped this bombshell. “The conclusion of several general managers is that the Karlsson deal will get done in the next few days.” 

When asked further which teams he had been hearing the most about he cited the Vancouver, Vegas, and San Jose. If that’s that case lets look at how this breaks down and more importantly what it means for the Anaheim Ducks.

Vancouver Canucks:

Per Cap Friendly, the Canucks, as of writing this, have about $9.2M in cap space. This is enough to absorb Karlsson’s current cap hit of 6.5 but not a ton of space to re-sign him after this season. The Canucks who are currently in a re-build would also have to give up some high-end prospects to get the job done. Players such as Bo Horvat, Brock Boesser, Adam Gaudette, or Jake Virtanen could be asked for along with some draft picks in return. This all for a player the Canucks aren’t sure they’d be able to re-sign.

I don’t see them parting with these young up and coming players as they attempt to re-build. If they do, however, and even with Erik Karlsson being the talent he is, I don’t think it tips the scales in the Pacific. Vancouver feels to me like the Ottawa of the Western Conference. Yes, the Canucks will have a good D-core with Karlsson, Alex Edler, and Michael Del Zotto but that’s it. Their forwards have the ability to be good but they are still young and unproven.

Ducks Panic Meter: 2/10: Karlsson to Vancouver improves their defense but still leaves them young forwards and shaky goaltending. To be honest, I’m not sure if the addition of Karlsson elevates the Canucks into playoff contention. They would still struggle to reach the top half of the Pacific Division standings.

Vegas Golden Knights

The Golden Knights are a year old and already extremely annoying. I take nothing away from a team that made it to the Stanley Cup finals in their first year in existence, but something just irks me about this team. I’m not sure what it is but the best word I can use to describe them is annoying.

According to Cap Friendly, the Knights have about $8.6M in cap space. They like Vancouver can absorb Karlsson’s contract though re-signing would require some moves. The question is would Vegas do it? They already lost James Neal and David Perron in free agency. They replaced them with Paul Stasny and hope that former Ducks prospect William “Wild Bill” Karlsson can replicate his 40 goal campaign from a season ago.

They have some highly regarded prospects, but that isn’t enough. So would they give up William Karlsson because his stock is high? Or someone like Jonathan Marchessault, Alex Tuch, Shea Theodore? Giving up any of those forwards would mean they lost three key offensive weapons from a season ago. While their defense gets better, their offense takes a serious hit.

Ducks Panic Meter: 4-5/10: I think Vegas takes a step back this season anyway. No more “we were the players no one wanted” schtick. Karlsson will have them competing for the playoffs but I don’t think this is the same Knights team we saw last year.