Ottawa’s contract extension offer to defenseman Erik Karlsson came in close to the $11MM per year that Drew Doughty received from the Kings, reports Chris Stevenson of The Athletic (subscription required). Previously, it was reported that the Senators had offered an eight-year deal worth $10MM per season.
However, one of the reported concerns Karlsson had with the offer was the lack of signing bonuses. The inclusion of high signing bonuses with low salaries has picked up considerably in recent years, most notably with the John Tavares contract with Toronto earlier this month. Whether the Senators weren’t willing to put them in or they were leaving it as something to potentially be negotiated remains to be seen but the quick rejection of that offer has led to an increase in trade speculation, especially since other teams have received permission to speak with Karlsson’s camp about an extension.
Elsewhere in the East:
- The Devils plan to finalize their coaching staff within the next week or so, head coach John Hynes told reporters, including Chris Ryan of NJ Advance Media. New Jersey has a pair of vacancies to fill after Geoff Ward left to take the same role with Calgary while Ryane Clowe was named head coach of Newfoundland’s new ECHL team, an affiliate of Toronto.
- While the Canadiens are eligible to send their top pick from the draft to the AHL level, that does not appear to be in their plans. In a mailbag column on Montreal’s team website, GM Marc Bergevin stated that if center Jesperi Kotkaniemi does not make the opening night NHL roster out of training camp, they will opt to loan him back to Assat in Finland over sending him to AHL Laval. Kotkaniemi spent all of last season with Assat and finished third on the team in scoring with 29 points which helped make him the third overall pick last month.