The Stanley Cup has been awarded. The drunk parade speeches have gone viral.

And the craggy beards that were emblematic of the two-month struggle for NHL supremacy are being shorn, as we speak, to reveal pale skin.

In other words, folks, welcome to the offseason.

But as the days count down to summer's biggest off-ice event—the entry draft that'll cover two days next week in Nashville, Tennessee—it's not as if things have gone totally dark.

Rumors about trades, signings and other would-be transactions are keeping the B/R hockey staff's BS senses tingling. To that end, we took a look at a few of the hottest suggestions making the rounds these days and applied our BS Meter litmus test to gauge their voracity.

Sharks Open To Erik Karlsson Deal

It's all over bar the press conference.

Probably.

Given the San Jose Sharks' 29th-place standing among 32 teams last season and defenseman Erik Karlsson's desire to be a part of a team with a chance to contend for a championship, it's hardly a revelation to suggest he will be dealt.

But the fact that the 33-year-old has four years left on a contract paying him $11.5 million per season—the highest rate in the league for a blue liner—it's not quite so easy to forecast a destination.

TSN's Pierre LeBrun reported that Karlsson and his representatives met with the Sharks brass and agreed that a trade was the desired outcome for all parties.

And San Jose GM Mike Grier said in April, as the Swede wrapped up a career-best 101-point season, that things were more likely to happen in the summertime when teams began formulating plans.

So, it's now a question of who's willing to meet the asking price that Grier has established, which is reportedly in the neighborhood of three first-round draft picks.

"It's not something that we're looking to give him away just to get cap space," he told The Mercury News. "I think we have an idea of what we think he's worth and what we should get in return and then we'll just kind of leave it at that.

"Like any deal, there's give and take on both sides and the balance of yes, getting some cap space, but also getting what we feel is a good return for him."

BS Meter: Not BS. Karlsson will start 2023-24 elsewhere.