Ducks general manager Bob Murray acknowledged he could have parted with a similar package of prospects and draft picks that enabled the San Jose Sharks to acquire superstar defenseman Erik Karlsson from the Ottawa Senators last week.

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“You’re not going to trade for him for one year,” Murray said. “You’ve got to be able to think you can sign him going forward and I just didn’t feel we would be in a position to sign him going forward. That’s the way it is right now with our hockey team.”

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“I couldn’t afford him, so I didn’t hold Pierre up,” Murray said, referring to Senators general manager Pierre Dorion. “I said, ‘Hey, I can give you the things you got.’ I was more than capable of giving him what he got. But, if you can’t afford a person, why are you going to do that?”