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Do the Senators really and truly want to keep Erik Karlsson?

Or are they just going to offer him a contract extension for appearance sake?

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I think it could be the latter.

Here’s why:

When GM Pierre Dorion told reporters the Senators dressing room was “broken” a couple of days after trading Mike Hoffman, he didn’t say it is now fixed. It’s naive to think that one player and one player alone was responsible for the mess, even if his fiancee might be guilty of viciously harassing and cyber-bullying the captain’s wife.

There has to be more to it.

Hypothetically speaking, what if the Monika Caryk-Melinda Karlsson feud runs deeper than has been alleged? We don’t know all the details. What if there was some nastiness coming from both sides?

And what if another player’s wife is aligned with Caryk? What if it’s a 90-10, 70-30 or even 50-50 split?

Would Dorion trade a portion or half the room to appease the Karlssons? Would that proviso be added to the contract offer?