Yep,it makes the most sense...If Ottawa was totally gassing the team ,then why wouldnt you either wait for EK to be moved first.
You're logic is severely flawed, probably because you're letting your fandom cloud your judgement. A Karlsson trade takes a lot longer to complete than trading a player with baggage like Hoffman, who was just flipped twice in the same day. The Sens absolutely needed to get Hoffman out of the locker room immediately... that was in no way, shape, or form hinging on a Karlsson deal. Can't believe someone could actually think that lol. The draft is 2 days away... teams are getting their ducks in a row. The Sens saw an out with Hoffman and they jumped on it, rightfully so.
The Sens intent has been to offer Karlsson a contract and hope he re-signs. After the Hoffman story broke last week, the writing was on the wall that Karlsson would be out. What star player, in the prime of his career, wants to play for a sub par team with tons of drama about his wife being the topic of media conversation in that market? "Who was right, Karlsson's wife or Hoffman's, wife, etc." Who in their right mind wants to deal with that garbage every day? Expecting Karlsson to willingly commit to the Sens for the rest of his career right now is beyond wishful thinking - it's pure lunacy.
Then you have some of the best NHL insiders like Bob McKenzie and Elliott Friedman both say today that they fully expect Karlsson to be traded. These guys are among the best in the biz. How you have a verified member of the the NHL Network going on record as saying the Sens are pushing to trade Karlsson and Smith. When was the last time KT put herself out there and made such a bold proclamation? Hint: never. No one with credibility within the industry is going to expose themselves like that unless they have solid information.
Realistically, I think there's a 7% chance Karlsson stays in Ottawa... and that's only if...
1. The Sens feel desperate enough to offer Karlsson an 8-year, $12.5 mil per deal.
2. If Karlsson is 100% motivated by money more than anything else and just wants that massive deal from the Sens.
Outside of the above, Karlsson is out my friend.