DISCLAIMER: I am not in favour trading our beloved captain as he is the face of the franchise and my one true love.

I was wondering how valuable is Karlsson on the trade market? He is undoubtably the best defensemen in the league, and it shows in points, and CorsiRel, but how much would other teams be willing to trade for Erik Karlsson?

Not only is he a great player but, he is signed to a very team friendly contract worth 6.5 million per year and is still very young with possibly his best years still ahead of him (is that even possible?!).

Let's establish top trade assets in the league right now: Ekblad, McDavid, Crosby, Tavares, Malkin, Cap-Relief Cowen, Ovechkin, Stamkos, Toews, Kane, Josi, Subban, Doughty, Ekman-Larson, Suter, Benn, Seguin, Tarasenko, Hall, Kopitar.

Does age factor into Ovechkin's trade value yet? Maybe not as he has showed no signs of slowing down his production. I don't think that either team would like this deal because without Ovi, the Caps would need help on the offence and even with Karlsson the other defence pairs need help.

Does Crosby's season affect his trade value right now? Maybe ever so slightly, but not enough for a 1 for 1 swap for Karlsson.

Is Patrick Kane around valued around the same as Erik Karlsson? He is having a monstrous season and a proven playoff performer, but has questionable character issues, and a massive contract upcoming.

Ekblad is an interesting case because he is only in his second year, yet is an integral part of the Panthers' success. He is only 19 and is only getting better. It is unknown at this point how great he can be. I think Karlsson's value is higher, but the Panthers may not be willing to part with him for Karlsson.

McDavid is the face of the future in Edmonton and would not be moved even for defensive help. Even though with Karlsson on the back end, they would be a much better team.

Karlsson's value is higher than all other defensemen mainly because he is better than they are. Although Roman Josi is an interesting case because he is signed for 4 million and until 2019/2020; however, he is not nearly as good as Karlsson. Suter's contract is massive and he is aging as well. Subban is also close but is not as skilled as Karlsson is and is also signed to a much larger contract. Doughty gets paid 7 mil. until 2018/19 but again is not as offensively gifted, not as cheap or as young as Karlsson.

Tarasenko is interesting because he is a young player with tons of talent and has somewhat proven himself as a goal scoring power forward. He is being paid 7.5 mil until 2022/23 and is only 24. He is a great player, just Karlsson is better and cheaper.

Toews is interesting because personally I don't think he is as great as he is touted out to be. He is the captain of the best team in hockey right now and has won the cup 3 times in the past 5 years. This is very impressive, however I think the success of this team has less to do with the captain and more to do with the effectiveness of the team. He is/was surrounded by All-Star talent like Kane, Keith, Hossa, Saad and Byfuglian and Ladd at one point. This is very different than the senators who have success largely due to Erik Karlsson (this is not to discredit other players on the Senators, just that the success of this team mostly comes from one man). On top of that, Toews is also signed to a huge contract. All of the above are reason's why I believe Erik Karlsson is more valuable than Toews. However, amongst GMs Toews has a higher trade value than Karlsson.

Benn and Seguin are both amazing players, yet ride off each other for success. They are not as great as Karlsson and are not as valuable independently on the trade market.

Hall is just coming into his own now and is becoming a dominant offensive force in the NHL, but he is with many other offensively gifted forwards on Edmonton who is in desperate need of defence. Although Hall is good, and young he is not Erik Karlsson good.

Kopitar is mostly known for his 2 way play yet manages ~70 points per year. He is big and has won 2 Stanley cups in the past 4 years. He is 28 and just signed a 8 year contract worth 10 mil per year. I am really unsure about who has the higher trade value between Kopitar and Karlsson. Karlsson is slightly younger, has a smaller cap hit and manages similar point production but does not have the size, or Stanley Cup rings. I value Karlsson more than I value Kopitar but what about the GMs?

Stamkos' trade value is much lower than Karlsson's because of his expiring contract and uncertainty of where he will sign in June.

Tavares is interesting but I see Karlsson having a higher trade value.

Worth more than Karlsson: Crosby, Ovechkin, Kane, McDavid

Worth around the same: Toews, Kopitar, Malkin

Worth less: Ekblad, Tavares, Tarasenko, Stamkos, all other defensemen, Benn, Seguin, Hall.

How would you rank Erik Karlsson's Trade Value compared to other's in the league?

Would you trade him for anyone? Or any package? (Barrie+MacKinnon+...?) (Shattenkirk+Schwartz+Parayko?) (Hall+Eberle?)

Thanks for reading!