If Toronto really wanted to seal the deal on hurting Ottawa after stealing Daniel Alfredsson, they should try their best to reunite him with Erik Karlsson.
Tuesday came with some pretty shocking news when it comes to the NHL as it was announced that former Ottawa Senators captain and assistant head coach Daniel Alfredsson had defected from his old team and crossed the line to the rival Toronto Maple Leafs in order to serve as an associate head coach.
It was something that may not make a huge difference at the end of the day but it is a move that made the Maple Leafs better at least in terms of a leadership standpoint and it's very interesting to see Mats Sundin and Alfredsson working together after years of going head-to-head.
Toronto should bring things full circle and add Erik Karlsson along with Alfredsson
While there is no word yet on whether or not Wade Redden, Chris Phillips or Chris Neil are going to come over too (kidding, of course) but if the Maple Leafs wanted to hit Ottawa where it hurts, they certainly took an iconic figure.
And they have the chance to take one more should they decide to go all-in and take on Erik Karlsson and his mammoth contract - thus completing the cycle with Karlsson and Alfredsson working together yet again and forming a dominant Swedish group of Sundin, Alfredsson, Karlsson, and William Nylander.
It would certainly be a bit of a low blow to the Senators as not only will they have lost their current captain in Brady Tkachuk to a trade to Florida, but also two of their former captain and franchise legends.
Karlsson, 36, had 66 points in 75 games for the Penguins this past season and is one of the greatest offensive defenders of all time. A three-time Norris Trophy winner, Karlsson has 936 points in over 1,100 career games with Ottawa, San Jose and Pittsburgh and currently makes $11.5-million and is a free agent next summer.
With him likely looking to compete in the last little bit of his career, moving to Toronto may be a great chance and he would no doubt solidify the top spot and be the pure offensive puck-mover Toronto has been clamouring for since Morgan Rielly's arrival in 2012.
Karlsson may cost a lot but swapping Rielly and picks may be able to get it done
While the team needs to figure out how to make up $4-million in money differential between Karlsson and Morgan Rielly, it makes sense to swap them. Kyle Dubas is going to get a younger and cheaper player who is locked down long-term, meanwhile he won't need to worry about an expensive extension.
If Toronto was serious about both winning and moving Rielly, then a package that included him, a second-round pick as well as a player like William Villeneuve or Noah Chadwick to fulfill the youth quota (and Dubas knows Villeneuve quite well) so it would be a bit of an overpay but you're improving steadily.
Karlsson would allow Darren Raddysh to run the second line offence alongside Oliver Ekman-Larsson, meanwhile Emil Andrae and Chris Tanev can secure the third pair:
McCabe - Karlsson
Ekman-Larsson - Raddysh
Andrae - Tanev
You can then use Karlsson and Raddysh on the PP together and with Karlsson's legendary vision and playmaking ability (not to mention his 283 career PP assists) we could see Raddysh letting it fly every few seconds and completely transform the offensive side of the blueline.
Plus with him already 36, you aren't holding the age crisis in Toronto but just replacing a Rielly with someone better albeit older, and that cap situation is tricky.
There's certainly risks too, as Toronto is getting older and still needs to figure out the financial aspect of things, but if they can convince Pittsburgh to move off Karlsson before it's too expensive, then they may have found their x-factor.
An x-factor that comes with a lot more than three Norris Trophies and a Hall of Fame career. But it's one that turns the Battle of Ontario on its head as suddenly the once loyal Senators crossed the floor to join their most heated rivals.
Should the Maple Leafs try and go after Erik Karlsson?
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