This is not Erik Karlsson’s fault

I can’t believe I have to write this article. The idea that anyone would think it’s Erik Karlsson’s fault he got traded is ludicrous. But we see him villainized on Twitter and Facebook, Gino Reda asking if Karlsson was the problem, and even our dear Ian Mendes writing that both sides are to blame here. So here we are.

Let’s remind ourselves who the players are here. On the one hand, Eugene Melnyk. Former billionaire who was found to lie repeatedly to shareholders to the point that he was banned from being in management of Canadian companies for five years, who’s been sued for refusing to pay earned bonuses, who’s had a rotating cast of executives over the last few years, who said he wanted to move the team in December then blatantly gaslighted season ticket holders at a town hall in April saying the media mis-characterized his words and would release the real video (which he never did), and who most recently has completely botched the Lebreton Flats negotiations to the point that

• Melnyk is suing his partner who was contributing more than 80% of the money for the project
• the mayor is saying Melnyk asked for public funding of the arena after Melnyk clearly said he didn’t need and wouldn’t seek public funds
• led to the most Trumpian yelling of “fake news” at anything you don’t like that I’ve seen outside politics in a long time in creating the Lebreton Flats Facts website which contains ridiculous “facts” like this one:

Quite the unreferenced, subjective “fact” there.