Report: Four teams linked to Karlsson UFA signing

Let the sweepstakes begin!

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Report: Four teams linked to Karlsson UFA signing
Zuma Press

While hockey fans sit on their hands and await the Stanley Cup Final next week, there’s not much news on the ice. NHL insider Elliotte Friedman took advantage of the break in action to do some digging on the future of pending unrestricted free agent Erik Karlsson. 

In his latest 31 Thoughts podcast with co-host Jeff Marek, Friedman discuss four teams who could potentially be in the running to sign Karlsson. Those teams are: the San Jose Sharks, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Vancouver Canucks and the New York Rangers.

Check out the transcribed conversation between Friedman and Marek below:

“Karlsson, I think the number one question is, ‘Will he need surgery?’ I suspect the answer is yes, but I don’t know for sure as we do this now. I know in San Jose they have maintained that they would like to try to sign him. I agree with everyone who says that the issue is term. I think the question is going to be, ‘Does he want to play in Tampa and do they want to find a way to make it work?’”
To which host Jeff Market replied, “Do you think Tampa’s the only option for him?”
“I don’t think it’s his only option but if you told me it was his preferred option I could see that.”
“Vancouver?,” Marek asked.
“I think he’s gonna wanna win.”
“New York Rangers?,” Marek followed up with.
“The one thing right now is… he’s had a lot of really serious injuries. So I don’t know, I’ve heard mixed things about the Rangers. At times I’ve heard yes, at times I’ve heard no.”


It certainly sounds like, at least according to Friedman, that the Lightning are frontrunners in all of this. The next five weeks should be interesting. If in fact Karlsson does need surgery, how does that affect his free agent courtship?