Canadian team is a “sleeper” to land Erik Karlsson this summer!

Well this is an extremely interesting rumor and one that I must admit I have not heard coming from anywhere else. 

The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta was on the National Hockey League's Sirius/XM station on Saturday when he discussed the latest trade rumblings in and around the National Hockey League as of late. Pagnotta touched on many of the big ticket topics that have been bouncing around the league in recent days but it was a little tidbit of information that he shared regarding the potential future of superstar defenseman Erik Karlsson that really head me scratching me head. 

As we all know of course Karlsson is currently in the final year of his current contract with the San Jose Sharks and will become one of the big ticket free agents that will be available this summer and will be unrestricted in their options of what team to play for. There has been talk that the Sharks will attempt to retain Karlsson on a new deal but there has been no such deal as of yet and there is a growing belief that the Sharks may allow his contract to lapse and may let him test the free agent waters. Of course any number of team would have interest in Karlsson at that point, but Pagnotta believes that there may be a dark horse that everyone is overlooking.

Shockingly, to me at least, Pagnotta mentioned that none other than the Vancouver Canucks could be a team at play here. Pagnotta cited the fact that he expects the Canucks to attempt a major move to bolster their blue line during the upcoming summer months and signing a player like Karlsson would certainly fit the bill. This appears to be more than pure speculation as well as Pagnotta hinted that his sources informed him the Canucks intend to knock on Karlsson's door. 

"Outside of trying to trade Loui Eriksson they are going to be big game hunting for some defensemen, and I've got some word that they plan on knocking on Erik Karlsson's door," said Pagnotta.

Now to be clear Pagnotta did admit that he is not clear on whether or not the player has interest in playing in that market, however if you're a Canucks fan you have to be thrilled at the prospect of your team adding an elite puck moving defenseman to help bolster the offensive production of players like Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser. It sounds like Pagnotta believes there is a real chance they could land him as well.

"They could be a bit of a sleeper here in an Erik Karlsson sweepstakes."

Stay tuned for more on this front.