Mailbag: Karlsson trade options for Sharks; Tolvanen potential for Kraken

Here is the Jan. 18 edition of the mailbag, where we answer your questions asked on Twitter using #OvertheBoards. Tweet your questions to @drosennhl.

Where would you put the odds of Erik Karlsson being traded between these three possibilities: Before the trade deadline this season, sometime between the end of this season and the trade deadline next season, or not traded at all? -- @BleedingTeal
I won't place odds on it because, well, I'm not a Vegas odds maker, but I definitely think there's a better chance of the San Jose Sharks finding a trade for Karlsson in the offseason rather than before the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline on March 3. This would be a massive trade involving a number of moving parts, including figuring out how to divvy up the defenseman's NHL salary cap charge. The Sharks will most likely have to retain some salary in a trade, but the return they get will determine how much. The number of potential trading partners increases in the offseason and the Sharks would also have a more definitive idea of the draft-pick capital they could get. Waiting also allows them to continue to scout prospects they might want. San Jose is in no rush to make it happen this season because it's not going to make a difference one way or the other. I do think Karlsson will be traded in the offseason. He is 32 and wants to go to a winner. The Sharks are rebuilding. They could accelerate their rebuild with this trade, but why limit themselves to what they can get before the deadline if options are most likely going to open after this season?

If you're taking one goalie with their current skill level and contract to build a team around, who are you picking? -- @zachh88888
Igor Shesterkin, New York Rangers.
Shesterkin is 27 years old and signed for this season and two more at a favorable $5.67 million average annual value considering he's arguably the best goalie in the NHL. He was last season and it wasn't close. Shesterkin's numbers this season (20 wins in 33 games, 2.43 goals-against average, .918 save percentage and one shutout) are not as good as they were last season (36 wins in 53 games, 2.07 GAA, .935 save percentage and six shutouts), but he might spend the rest of his career failing to match what he did last season. It was that impressive, a career year. The fact that he's following it up with another strong season worthy of being selected to represent the Rangers in the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Game is telling of the type of goalie he is for them. He's consistently excellent in all areas of the game, especially puck-handling. He helps the Rangers breakout of the zone as much as their defensemen do. That in it of itself boosts his value. So too does the fact that he's in his prime and elite while holding the 10th-highest salary cap charge among goalies who have played this season.
New York Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin and Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger are close seconds, but I have to go with Shesterkin because he's accomplished more and doesn't crush the Rangers cap.

Will Eeli Tolvanen be a superstar after leaving the Predators? -- @Puckberto
Superstar? No.
Impact player? I think so.
Tolvanen, the No. 30 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, could have been an impact player with the Nashville Predators too, but there were limited opportunities and it's not as if he blew away the coaching staff with his play to warrant more playing time than he was getting. Just this season alone he played 13 games and had four points (two goals, two assists) and 19 shots on goal while averaging 12:49 of ice time per game, including 2:02 per game on the power play. Meh.
But in Tolvanen's defense, he was on the Predators fourth line a lot of the time. Though he was getting some run on the second power-play unit, he wasn't getting much of a chance to generate at 5-on-5. Then again, he did not have a single point on the power play, and the failure to make good on that opportunity looms large. He was also a healthy scratch for his last seven games with the Predators before they waived him Dec. 11, allowing the Kraken the opportunity to pick him up the following day.
Seattle waited until Jan. 1 to put Tolvanen in the lineup, but he has been playing in a top-nine role with Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand, a much bigger opportunity at 5-on-5 than he was getting with Nashville. He's been on a power-play unit with Bjorkstrand, Jared McCann,
Alex Wennberg
and Vince Dunn. He has seven points (five goals, two assists) in 10 games, including two power-play goals.
It was a smart pickup for the Kraken and it just seemed as if the Predators ran out of patience with Tolvanen. Sometimes change ignites a player. Opportunity helps. Tolvanen got both and he's making good on it. He won't be a superstar, but he can be an impact middle-six forward for a long time.

Is Pavel Zacha worth $4.75 million a year? -- @tylizotte22
Yes. I think getting Zacha in on a new four-year, $19 million contract could be a big-time value signing for the Boston Bruins. He's making $3.5 million on a one-year, prove it contract this season and the 25-year-old has delivered 28 points (seven goals, 21 assists) in 43 games for the best team in the NHL. He had an NHL career-high 36 points (15 goals, 21 assists) in 70 games last season with the New Jersey Devils. This season will be Zacha's best in the NHL by a landslide, so immediately you know he was going to get a raise in his next deal. But $1.25 million is not a massive raise, especially considering the Bruins bought two years of unrestricted free agency from him. He could have become an unrestricted free agent at 27, but instead won't be eligible to hit the open market until he's 29. Zacha's versatility, the ability to play all three forward positions, has been his calling card for Boston this season. But down the road he figures to slot in as a top-two center, filling the role of either Patrice Bergeron or David Krejci, whoever retires or leaves Boston first. Bergeron is 37, Krejci is 36, and each are on a one-year contract. Zacha is learning under both right now and could be a legitimate bargain at $4.75 million in a year or two.

With Seattle set to play Vegas in 2024 and Carolina set to play outdoors this season, that leaves Columbus, Florida and Arizona as the last NHL teams to not play in an outdoor game. When will they get a chance to play one? Where could they play? -- @theashcity
Ohio Stadium is the natural venue for the Columbus Blue Jackets. The home football stadium for Ohio State University seats more than 104,000. It needs to be winterized. The Athletic reported in November the stadium could get a winterization shortly because of college football's expansion of its playoff pool from four teams to 12 in the coming years. Ohio State could have to host a home game in December and the stadium would need to be winterized for that. A game at "The Horseshoe" would be similar to the 2014 Winter Classic, when the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs played in front of an NHL-record crowd of 105,491 at Michigan Stadium, the home football stadium of the University of Michigan. Columbus is a big and underrated hockey market. The Pittsburgh Penguins are the closest team geographically to Columbus. Put the Penguins and Blue Jackets in Ohio Stadium and they'd get more than 100,000 to show up, especially if it's a Stadium Series game that can be played when Ohio State students are on campus.
The Coyotes have three legitimate options for an outdoor game venue: Chase Field, the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks; Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University; or State Farm Stadium, the home of the Arizona Cardinals. Chase Field and Sun Devil Stadium make more sense than State Farm Stadium because of location. Chase Field is in downtown Phoenix and Sun Devil Stadium, the home football venue for ASU, is right on campus in Tempe. State Farm Stadium is in Glendale, where the Coyotes used to play before moving into Tempe to play at Mullett Arena on ASU's campus this season. They're trying to build a new arena and entertainment complex in Tempe, so it would make sense to have their outdoor game closest to that. Weather would not be a concern because the rink build and the game could be done at night. Not sure if you've been to Arizona in the winter, but the desert air gets pretty chilly when the sun goes down.
The Panthers have an obvious harder time getting a home outdoor game because of the warm and humid South Florida climate. Arizona is at least dry and colder in the evenings in the winter. However, LoanDepot Park, home of the Miami Marlins, has a retractable roof that could allow for the NHL to build the rink under cover and in air conditioning, opening it for the practice day and game only assuming the weather allows. Put the Tampa Bay Lightning and Panthers in there and you'll have yourself a Sunshine State Rivalry outdoor game. Perfect.
Why didn't @NHLAdamK have the Devils in his vote in the last Super 16? -- @LetsGooooDevils
This is the question of the week. I'd like to think this is an oversight on my colleague's part, but still, it's a total miss.
Sorry, Adam, but I had to do it.
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