brutal bottom 6

Not sure how that would work but Wings would do that if it's 10 top protected.

sharks smash

How about no.

Funnily enough this return for Karlsson is actually more than what the Sharks gave up at the time. 3rd liner (Tierney/Joseph), young depth forward with upside (Norris/Zadina), young defenseman struggling to find consistent ice time (JBD/DeMelo), similar picks (nobody expected that Sharks 1st to be 3oa).

I doubt the return for Karlsson will even be this much unless the Sharks retain $4 mil+, which they're reportedly not interested in doing.

Agree, this is the the level of return I am expecting for that much retained EK. The value is in getting a bunch of picks. Decent prospects are a bonus.
It makes sense to me that SJ would want picks sprinkled over the years they have to retain Karlsson. They can tell the owner that they get something for about each year they're paying a superstar to play for another team. Softens the blow. Also SJ is going to suck for at least 3 years anyway IMO
I hope for more but don't think it's realistic or else the deal would have been done already.

Problem lies in Debrincat. He won’t want to sign here and the whole purpose of trading Timo was $$. Debrincat is going to get a similar contract to Timo amd frankly Timo has more value as a power forward. So it makes the ideology behind the Timo trade totally moot.

The value is fine.

This scenario is a three way trade where Ottawa gets Karlsson, Detroit gets DeBrincat, and San Jose gets picks and prospects though.