Matthews and Nylander get mixed into Maple Leafs’ trade interest for Karlsson

Newly-crowned Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson has been on the trade block with many teams interested in acquiring his services, but he’s informed the San Jose Sharks he wants to get dealt to a Stanley Cup contender.

“We have talked with Erik and his group, and I think he would like a chance to have an opportunity to compete for the Stanley Cup and I understand that,” Sharks GM Mike Grier said Tuesday on a press call. “His timeline where he is in his career doesn’t quite match up with where we are in our process of building this thing back up.

“We’ve talked to a bunch of teams. There’s some serious interest, and there’s some people kind of dipping their toe in the water to see what something might look like.”

Insider Pierre LeBrun reveals how the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes are amongst the potential destinations for Karlsson, but also mentioned how the situation needs to be clarified with star forwards Auston Matthews and William Nylander before GM Brad Treliving can do anything. This is how the insider puts it in his latest column in The Athletic:

“One thing’s for sure: Treliving needs clarity on the Auston Matthews and William Nylander contract situations as soon as possible so he understands what exactly he has to work with and whether that will allow him to make other moves. Leafs fans shouldn’t sweat the Matthews situation. He’s going to sign an extension at some point. He’s not going anywhere.

"It’s the Nylander situation that could go either way. I’m told Treliving did meet with Nylander’s agent, Lewis Gross, here in Nashville over the past few days. It’s going to be important for Toronto to understand what Nylander has in mind for an extension, so they can know if they can afford him. Treliving in meeting media here in Nashville on Tuesday said the team’s only priority is to sign Nylander, but obviously it’s his job to take calls and listen to possibilities that could improve the team. You can read into that the fact that the Leafs GM is getting a sense of the Nylander trade market even while being focused on wanting to sign him.”

Could we see Nylander on the move to make room for Karlsson in Toronto? This would be a monster trade and it feels like fans will know soon enough if the Maple Leafs are a serious contender for the star defenseman and what it could mean for Toronto moving forward. 

Stay tuned.

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