Hockeymedia has been speculating about San Jose wanting to trade EK65 during the summer. He wants to go to a team that can make a run for the cup and compete - and that team will also have to have cap to take in his contract. Even if the Sharks retain salary, I'd guess he'd be around $8M.
I've been thinking - maybe he could be a piece in Yzerplan?
Does it make any sense to you guys?
Looking at the way Yzerman has been drafting and constructing the team, it appears to me that he favors big, physical defensemen, and even those who are effective offensively are responsible in their own end (e.g. Seider, Edvinsson). I don't feel like EK65 fits this mold (especially with his unfortunate injury history that's hopefully behind him). And since he's 33, I'm not sure how well he fits the team's competitive window. I especially don't see Yzerman parting with draft picks or prospects for Karlsson.
The team has a lot of depth, especially in the prospect pool, so the biggest need from my perspective is top line scoring talent. I personally feel like the Wings would be more likely to target someone like Alex DeBrincat or Auston Matthews if they were looking to spend $8M+ on a player this offseason.