LeBrun: Latest on Erik Karlsson, including Maple Leafs interest, and more pre-NHL Draft rumblings

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — First, let’s note that there are no guarantees that Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson will trade.

With four years left on his contract and an average annual value of $11.5 million, it’s going to be difficult to pull off the move — even if the Sharks are willing to eat some of the cap.

Just look at the trades Kevin Hayes, Taylor Hall and Ryan Johansen have been involved in over the past few days to understand the economics of the third year of the mostly frozen cap. All three traded for virtually nothing, with Nashville (Johansen) and Philadelphia (Hayes) retaining 50 percent.

“It’s ridiculous how hard it is,” an NHL general manager said of transferring money in the current climate.

That said, Sharks GM Mike Grier, Karlsson’s camp led by Newport Sports’ Craig Oster, and Karlsson himself are equally motivated partners in finding a trade option. You are on the same page.

As such, Karlsson did not provide the Sharks with a specific list of teams. Oster has given Grier a fairly open canvas so he can take full advantage of the market and see what might make sense. Obviously he wants to join a playoff team that has a chance of winning.

And at the end of the day, Karlsson has the full no-move clause allowing him to agree to a team.

But for the time being, the point here is not to limit Grier’s options as he spots a potential market.

“We spoke to Erik and his group and I think he would like a chance to fight for the Stanley Cup and I understand that,” Grier said on a media call Tuesday afternoon. “His timeline of where he is in his career doesn’t quite align with where we are in our process of rebuilding this cause.

“We spoke to a number of teams. There is serious interest and some people are dipping their toe in the water to see what something might look like.”

But be aware that unlike Hall, Johansen and Hayes’ trades, Grier is actually looking for a return for Karlsson.

“He’s not someone I just want to give away,” Grier said.

Grier added when I asked him during the call for the examples of Hall and Hayes and the difficulty of moving money at the moment: “Obviously in this kind of flat-cap world that we’re still in, definitely difficult to withdraw salary.” . And we understand that. At some point we’ll probably have to give in a little.

“But if people think we’re going to eat up 50 per cent of his contract and all that stuff, that’s probably not going to happen. No offense to Hayes and Hallsy, who are both very good players and have had a lot of success in this league, but Erik is a special player on his way to becoming a Hall of Famer. He is healthy. Last year he proved that he is healthy. He’s a special player who drives the offensive forward like hardly anyone else in this league. He’s not someone we’ll just toss aside and ignore in trying to help the organization.”

As far as I know, the Sharks have spoken to several teams including Toronto, Seattle and Carolina.

New Leafs GM Brad Treliving is notorious for always checking when big names are involved, and it may be all he’s done here. Or maybe he’s genuinely intrigued by what Karlsson could bring to the Leafs’ blue line at a reduced salary.

One thing is certain, Treliving needs clarification on Auston Matthews and William Nylander’s contract situation as soon as possible so that he understands exactly what he needs to work with and if that will allow him to take other steps. Leafs fans shouldn’t worry too much about the Matthews situation. At some point he will sign a contract extension. He’s not going anywhere.

It’s the Nylander situation that can go either way. I’m told Treliving has been meeting with Nylander’s agent, Lewis Gross, here in Nashville for the past few days. It will be important for Toronto to understand what Nylander intends to do with an extension so they can know if they can afford him. Treliving said Tuesday in a media meeting here in Nashville that the team’s only priority is signing Nylander, but obviously his job is to take calls and listen to opportunities the team could improve. This reflects the fact that the Leafs GM is developing a flair for the Nylander trade market, despite his focus on wanting to sign him.

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes’ interest in Karlsson makes sense given they struggled with the power play last season. However, like any team trying to strike a deal with Karlsson with San Jose, the negotiations come down to how much the Sharks are willing to eat.

Karlsson as an $8M or $7.5M player is obviously different than Karlsson as a $9M or $9.5M player.

Notably, Carolina traded with San Jose for Brent Burns last summer, so there’s a possibility of a Burns-Karlsson reunion if the teams take trade talks more seriously.

But here too, as Grier noted in his media briefing on Tuesday, Grier himself has spoken to a number of teams.

Rumors elsewhere:

• Detroit was seen by some as a logical place to land for Alex DeBrincat – and Detroit was on his team list – but my sense of Tuesday’s situation was that the Red Wings didn’t feel they came that close to a deal with Ottawa. I know Dallas was also one of DeBrincat’s favorite travel destinations, and the stars have had discussions with Ottawa about DeBrincat. But given the stars’ cap situation, they’d have to withdraw money somehow. The stars are unlikely to be able to pull this off. You are also still in conversation with the forthcoming UFA Max Domi.

As I reported last week, Sens GM Pierre Dorion is okay with a first-round pick for 2024, so he’s never viewed this week as a deadline for a DeBrincat trade. There’s still time.

But again, consider this: Whichever team wants to trade DeBrincat, an accomplished goalscorer who’s only 25, a renewal will cost him $8.5 million to $9 million a year. Here, too, the cap space is currently a problem almost everywhere. That’s partly why this trade hasn’t been so easy to pull off until now.

• Realizing they were failing Pierre-Luc Dubois, the Habs focused their efforts on Alex Newhook. Obviously that’s a talent drop from Dubois, but just as GM Kent Hughes saw a positive play against Kirby Dach a year ago, he sees one in 22-year-old Newhook, who was selected in the first round in 2019. It’s the kind of bet that makes sense given where Montreal is in its ongoing roster makeover.

• Chat Monday with Caps GM Brian MacLellan, who’s as curious as anyone about why Tom Wilson’s name is popping up in the rumor mill. MacLellan said he doesn’t speak to teams about Wilson and has no plans to move him.

• When that larger deal with the Blues fell through because Torey Krug would not give up his no-trade to go to Philadelphia, the Flyers reduced the deal to just Hayes for a sixth-round pick and conceded 50 percent to Hayes. It’s a tough deal for Philadelphia, but I think Flyers GM Danny Briere wanted to do Hayes a favor and give him the fresh start he wanted.

• My impression is that Carolina and Philadelphia will still try to get a Tony DeAngelo transfer to work as soon as the league allows it. Check out my Monday Rumblings again, where I explained what happened there.

• Agent Marc Levine said Tuesday that his client Shayne Gostisbehere “will not re-sign with Carolina.” On Saturday he will be UFA.

(Top photo by Erik Karlsson: Claus Andersen/Getty Images)