Interesting Development in Oilers/Sharks Trade Scenario

According to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, the Edmonton Oilers aren't interested in Erik Karlsson and wouldn't ever consider a Karlsson (50% salary retained) for Jesse Puljujarvi swap.

This comes after weeks of speculation that Oilers general manager Ken Holland was kicking tires on the veteran defenseman. Seravalli has also mentioned the Sharks haven't received any interest from the Oilers and any trade speculation was news to them. 

Karlsson is an interesting trade chip for the Sharks because he's regained his Norris-trophy type form, however his salary is crazy expensive at $11.5 million for the next four seasons. Salary cap space is like hard-found gold these days across the NHL and there are minimal teams who will be interested even if the Sharks retain 50% which many expect they would.

The Oilers are expected to go hard after defensemen, but at this point, much more likely to take the cheaper/depth route instead of a top-pairing blueliner like Karlsson.

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