With that much retention the first player coming to SJ better be Evan Bouchard. Except Bouchard is untouchable.

I don't think Edmonton is the right destination for Karlsson.

My understanding from friends I have who work for the org is that the Sharks are very high on Cardwell right now, and I doubt he gets moved as a throw in piece before he so much as hits the ice in San Jose.

Karlsson will end up moving, because he is serious about winning and this off-season will offer the best opportunity for Grier to off-load him. Honestly though, don’t have high expectations on the return.

Frank Seravalli was all over this in January, the point in him moving, from a SJ Management standpoint is to get rid of his massive cap hit, in case he becomes a shadow of the player he is and any kind of value is gone in a trade.

Where do you think he would fit best?

The scouting reports on his actual skill set is meh, but the kid has so much heart and hustle that he just might have a chance….

That’s the thing with prospects, if you are a draft pick, someone is very high on you. If you get signed, then several in the organization are high on you. Just remember he is a 4th rounder (I think), teams tend to value 1,2,3 rounders more, so he is exactly the type of player that could be traded in such a deal. It is far from a guaranteed that he will ever become an NHL player .

But he is definitely impressing hockey people on some level.

He was drafted in the Wilson squared era and got his ELC in the Grier era, so he’s definitely impressing the right people. At this point I think it’s more likely that Hamaliuk would be a throw in before Cardwell.