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Of course, the Knights and Lightning have been included in this speculation talks since before the trade deadline in February. Vegas could be willing to also take on the contract of winger Bobby Ryan, who has a $7.25-million annual cap hit through the next four seasons.

If that’s the case, though, Vegas would offer less in return and not every deal the Senators are discussing involves including Ryan’s contract.

The Senators, as promised during a town hall meeting in April, did table a contract extension for Karlsson on Sunday.

Dorion was short on details during a Sunday media conference at Canadian Tire Centre, but there seemed to be little optimism about getting Karlsson signed any time soon.

“We owe it to our fans, and we made a promise at the town halls that we would make a contract offer to Erik Karlsson, and we’ve done so,” Dorion said. “We’re not going to talk any more about it, but we just thought that we talked about it previously.

“That’s all about we’re going to say about it.”

Dorion wouldn’t talk about Karlsson’s reaction to the offer, either, but you have to think that Drew Doughty’s eight-year, $88-million extension with the Los Angeles Kings would be a starting point for Karlsson in negotiations.

In fact, it wouldn’t be the least bit shocking if Karlsson wanted more than that in his new deal.

He can’t become a unrestricted free agent until July 1, 2019, so Dorion doesn’t have to be any hurry into a trade. If the Senators can’t get the right return, there’s a good chance Karlsson will be at training camp in September.

The Senators will only get one shot at this deal and it has be done right, plus they’re giving up the best player, so they can’t “win” this trade.

“We start (next season) Oct. 4 … we’ve got lots of time,” Dorion said when asked about when he wanted to have the roster settled.

Deciding what to do with Karlsson will be a key factor in that process. On that question, now would seem like as good a time as any for the Senators to do just that.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/sungarrioch