Report: Senators allowing teams to negotiate extension with Erik Karlsson

With John Tavares landing in Toronto and Drew Doughty recently locked up by the Los Angeles Kings, all eyes now shift to Ottawa and the Erik Karlsson sweepstakes.

The trade rumours surrounding the all-world blue-liner — who is slated to become an unrestricted free next July 1 — are starting to pick up some serious steam, and the Senators have reportedly granted potential trade partners permission to negotiate a contract extension with the defenceman, as first reported by Larry Brooks of the New York Post.

Having Karlsson under contract for the long haul is obviously an important factor for any team looking to move valuable assets in Ottawa’s direction in exchange for the blue-liner, making a sign-and-trade type of deal a logical option — ensuring the 28-year-old can secure an eight-year term rather than the maximum seven-year contract he would be eligible to sign out of free agency next summer.

The Senators offered Karlsson an extension of their own over the weekend, though details on term and dollars are scarce. He became eligible to sign an extension at noon ET on Sunday when free agency officially opened.

“Obviously we don’t really want to talk about roster players, contract negotiations, trades, all these things. But I think we owe it to our fans and we made a promise at the town hall that we would make a contract offer to Erik Karlsson and we’ve done so,” Dorion said Sunday.

“I’m not going to talk any more about it but we just thought that we talked about it previously and that’s about all we’re going to say on the subject.”

Karlsson is a two-time Norris Trophy winner as the league’s best defenceman and has tallied 518 points in 627 games over nine seasons in Ottawa.