Erik Karlsson Has Waived His No-Move Clause for One Canadian Team
Erik Karlsson is one step closer to being traded.
While there remains several hurdles to clear before an Erik Karlsson trade, arguably the biggest one has been cleared. According to NHL Insider Chris Johnston, the Sharks' prized blue-liner has waived his no-move clause for the Edmonton Oilers.
Erik Karlsson is apparently open to waiving his NMC to come to Edmonton, per @reporterchris.— Oilers Daily (@oilersdailyy) February 21, 2023
To some, this is considered a "quiet" trade request. Meaning, Karlsson hasn't explicitly requested a trade but has made it clear that playing for a contender is of interest to him. Surely, joining Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl has piqued his curiosities as well.
The Oilers have been in and around Karlsson's services for a while now. The biggest remaining barrier is, as always, making the money work. Per CapFriendly, the Oilers have $0 in salary cap space with $8.3 million assigned to long-term injured reserve.
Aside from that, Edmonton has the pieces to make it work. Their 1st-round pick is in play, they've got a few prospects in Dylan Holloway, Xavier Bourgault, and Luca Munzenberger who could go the other way. It's likely that one or both of Jesse Puljujarvi or Tyson Barrie heads the other way as well.
Edmonton currently holds the first Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. While they will always be a dangerous team in the playoffs, the Oilers don't exactly inspire confidence top-to-bottom.
McDavid and Draisaitl can always combine for 20 points in a series, but if they can't balance their lineup and - God forbid - keep some pucks out of their net, they will struggle in the postseason. Karlsson helps more with the former than the latter, but he's better than Tyson Barrie.
| POLL | ||
FÉVRIER 22 | 359 ANSWERS Erik Karlsson Has Waived His No-Move Clause for One Canadian Team How far can the Oilers make it in the postseason this year? | ||
| 1st round | 66 | 18.4 % |
| 2nd round | 77 | 21.4 % |
| Conference Final | 97 | 27 % |
| Stanley Cup Final | 119 | 33.1 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Brandon Hagel | - | 5 | 5 | |
| Nico Hischier | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Zachary Bolduc | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Will Cuylle | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jake Guentzel | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ivan Ivan | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jakob Chychrun | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack Eichel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Morgan Frost | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mason Marchment | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Nicklaus Perbix | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brayden Schenn | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Tyler Seguin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matt Duchene | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Ridly Greig | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Dylan Holloway | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 21 | 17 | 4 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 30 | |
Devils | 23 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 30 | |
Hurricanes | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 29 | |
Golden Knights | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Maple Leafs | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 27 | |
Flames | 21 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 27 | |
Stars | 19 | 13 | 6 | - | 26 | |
Rangers | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||