St. Louis Blues Pursuit Of Mike Hoffman Less Likely Now

The St. Louis Blues were incredibly interested in acquiring Mike Hoffman during the 2017-18 season, but the deal could not be finished before the trade deadline. St. Louis might be less interested in him now.

The St. Louis Blues were rumored to be heavily interested in picking up Mike Hoffman prior to the 2018 NHL trade deadline. The Blues and Senators got close enough to a deal that many believed the negotiations would pick back up in the summer.

The biggest reason Hoffman’s name has cooled off among Blues circles is that he is a winger. The Blues seem laser focused on picking up a top-two line center. That does not mean Hoffman would not be a good pickup, but he is not as important right now.

That said, there is a bigger reason the Blues might want to back off of a potential deal for the Ottawa wing. His girlfriend has been accused of some very unseemly behavior by Erik Karlsson‘s wife.

First reported by the Ottawa Citizen and now picked up by multiple outlets, such as ESPN, Karlsson’s wife has filed for a peace bond. That is essentially an order of protection.

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Ottawa police are now investigating and you know the NHL will launch its own investigation into things as well.

According to the reports, the Karlssons have accused Hoffman’s fiance, Monika Caryk, of harassment. They say she made comments wishing the end of Karlsson’s career and the death of their then unborn son, who ended up being stillborn.

Understandably, Hoffman is standing by his fiance. He claims neither of them are involved in this are promises to help find the culprit.

“There is a 150 percent chance that my fiancee Monika and I are not involved in any of the accusations that have been pursued [that are] coming our way,” he told the Citizen. “We totally understand there’s no place for cyberbullying.

"“We’ve offered to cooperate and do anything it takes to find out who is doing this, and support [the Karlssons]. Obviously this is a tough time that they’re going through, and we want to find out who is doing this, because for some reason it’s coming into our court, and it’s 150 percent that it’s not us. We have nothing to hide. We’re willing to cooperate in any way to solve this and figure it out and prove that it wasn’t us.”"

An update on the Citizen’s article says the Karlsson’s claim the harassment started in November of 2017. The filing for protection occurred in May of 2018. It goes into greater detail about potentially fake online accounts leaving terrible comments regarding the deceased child and its mother, which you can read at the link.

The issue, as it now pertains to the Blues, is whether you want to become involved in anything like that. Unless Hoffman or Caryk is suddenly exonerated, and even then, you don’t need that kind of drama coming into your team.

Outside of some charitable events, you don’t hear anything about the wives and girlfriends of the Blues players. That is the way it should be because drama causes friction and worse.

As a player, there was a big reason the Blues were interested in Hoffman. He’s been a guaranteed 20-plus goal scorer for the last four seasons. He has also had point totals in the upper 50’s or 60’s the last three seasons.

This kind of news really puts a damper on any potential deal though. Whether it is a deal breaker is up to the people making the calls and signing the checks.

Personally, it makes me want Hoffman a lot less. Even if he is not personally involved with this in any way, it is now a stain on him.

Clearly he plans to marry Caryk and that’s fine. An accusation like this, even if proven untrue, can cause the wives of Blues players to keep their distance. A wife that feels lonely and scorned by outsiders can cause problems for a player, which could affect the performance of Hoffman.

For the sake of all parties involved, let us hope this is just a misunderstanding in a difficult time. If any of it is true, it is a rather unseemly story that almost can’t have a good end.

The Senators are now in a rough spot because having these two play together seems almost impossible. They may have been looking to deal Karlsson prior to his contract running out next summer and Hoffman was being shopped as well, but this takes away interest and leverage.

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It also puts an odd timeline on potential deals. If you want to trade Karlsson, you’ll have plenty of takers. Hoffman suddenly becomes off limits until this is cleared up.

Personally, I would not touch this trade with a 10-foot pole until the entire story comes out and is cleared up.

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