The 28-year-old defenseman has one season remaining on a seven-year contract he signed June 19, 2012, and can become an unrestricted free agent after this season.
"We don't really want to talk about roster players, contract negotiations, trades, all these things, but I think we owe it to our fans and we made a promise at the town hall that we would make a contract offer to Erik Karlsson and we've done so," Senators general manager Pierre Dorion said Sunday.
Terms of the offer were not disclosed. Asked about Karlsson's reaction to the offer, Dorion said, "We're not going there."
After Karlsson remained on the Senators following the NHL Trade Deadline on Feb. 26, Dorion said
Ottawa would offer him a contract
.
"I think Erik wants to be a Senator for life," Dorion said then. "I don't want to speak for him, I'll let him speak for himself. We'll see what the next few months bring, but if Erik Karlsson is here on July 1, we will be making him a contract offer."
Karlsson had 62 points (nine goals, 53 assists) in 71 games for the Senators last season. He has led Ottawa in points, or finished tied for the lead, each of the past five seasons.
The captain of the Senators since 2014, Karlsson is a two-time Norris Trophy winner (2012, 2015) and finished second in 2016 and 2017. He's been voted to the NHL First All-Star Team four times (2012, 2015-17).