from Damien Cox of the Toronto Star,

San Jose, however, seems to have cracked the post-cap code in this regard, and this season will ice the trio of Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, the best threesome in the NHL going into the 2018-2019 season. Nashville might differ, with P.K. Subban, Roman Josi and Mattias Ekholm, but most would give the Sharks a slight edge with the acquisition of Karlsson and his splendid skill set this week.

The fact Karlsson and Burns were acquired by trade speaks to the resourcefulness of Sharks general manager Doug Wilson and his creativeness when it comes to horse-trading with his fellow GMs. Heck, he didn’t even know Burns was a forward or a defenceman when he got him from Minnesota in 2011 for Devon Setoguchi and Charlie Coyle, and most would agree that has turned out very much in San Jose’s favour.

Wilson, now in his 15th year running the Sharks, was never really viewed as overly cautious among his peers, but he was certainly committed to a consistent draft-and-develop strategy and understandably conscious of the revenue and payroll restrictions of San Jose, which plays in one of the NHL’s smallest rinks.

In the past three years, however, Wilson has become increasingly bold, almost at the same time Nashville counterpart David Poile has become similarly aggressive when it comes to trades.

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