BREAKING: Bob McKenzie makes a shocking statement concerning a future Karlsson trade

Are the Ottawa Senators going to trade Erik Karlsson, one of the best defensemen of his generation and a true NHL superstar? We're talking about a huge gamble that would completely change the face of the Cananadian franchise for the next ten years or so.

For many people, this scenario was extremely unlikely just a couple of weeks ago. But we've reported countless of times over the past few days that the Sens are actively shopping him. TSN insider Bob McKenzie said on TSN 200 today that GM Pierre Dorion is not only looking at his options, but actively negociating possible deals:

McKenzie also said he believes that the teams who are willing to acquire Karlsson will have to part with “upwards of five, six, seven pieces”, and that they'll have to take on Bobby Ryan’s contract in that same deal. The 30-year-old forward, who suffered a couple of nagging injuries over the past seasons, still has four years remaining at an annual salary-cap hit of $7.25 million on his current deal. 

Now according to McKenzie's colleague, Pierre LeBrun, it looks like the San Jose Sharks have shown interest to Ottawa for Karlsson.

LeBrun also added a valid point in a subsequent tweet, when he said that the team has more than enough cap room to acquire both Ryan and Karlsson:

Karlsson will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2018-19 season, and will certainly command much, much more than his current $6.5 million contract. Many insiders believe the blueliner will earn way north of $10 million a year.

Even if the Sens have been truly horrible since the start of the season, the 27-year-old still managed to amass 42 points in 55 games. This is much less than his 82 points in 82 games back in 2015-16, but still remarkable considering his team has a record of 21-29-10 and 52 points.