My Thoughts on Reimer, Karlsson, Meier Trade Rumors

Check out my “Sharks Pregame Live” hit!

I talked about the trade rumors swirling around the San Jose Sharks’ Timo Meier, Erik Karlsson, and James Reimer.

Here are the highlights of my hit.

On Timo Meier, I recapped an eventful couple of days of Meier news. Elliotte Friedman reported yesterday that the San Jose Sharks were willing to let teams interested in trading for Meier talk extension with Meier’s agent Claude Lemieux. However, Lemieux told San Jose Hockey Now that doesn’t mean that Meier’s days with the Sharks are numbered.

Lemieux Doesn’t Close Door on Meier Returning to Sharks

On Erik Karlsson, Pierre LeBrun speculated that Karlsson will not be with the San Jose Sharks next season. He doesn’t think that Karlsson will be dealt by this Trade Deadline because of his massive contract – four more years left after this season with an $11.5 million dollar AAV – but he thinks that by June, when teams have a better sense of what the salary cap will be in the coming years, interest in Karlsson will perk up and lead to a trade by the fall.

My personal opinion: It’s still going to be tough for a team to fit Karlsson into their budget. I think teams will also be leery of Karlsson’s recent track record – back-to-back unimpressive campaigns in 2019-20 and 2020-21, a good but injury-shortened 2021-22 season, and his current career season pace. Maybe Karlsson will need to put up consecutive elite years to allay fears?

LeBrun Thinks Sharks Will Trade Karlsson by Fall

On James Reimer, I opined that because Reimer is not seen as a playoff-caliber starter league-wide, he’s not going to command much in trade. He might be the San Jose Sharks starter, but on a playoff team, he’s a back-up, albeit a high-end one. What’s that worth? Playoff starters like Marc-Andre Fleury and Robin Lehner get second-round picks. Reimer? You’re lucky to get a third, and a source recently suggested that a fourth or a fifth is more likely.

Trade Values for Sharks Besides Karlsson, Meier? (+)