The Pittsburgh Penguins are well out of contention for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference — and the roster could look a lot different after the March 7 NHL Trade Deadline because of it. As The Athletic’s Josh Yohe reported on Tuesday, not even star defenseman Erik Karlsson is safe from a potential move.
“One team source told me that, if [general manager Kyle] Dubas could, he would trade Karlsson ‘in a heartbeat,’” the hockey insider wrote. “An Eastern Conference executive told me, ‘Karlsson is out there, but Pittsburgh would have to retain (salary).’”
Yohe sees two main obstacles to a potential Karlsson trade: the Swedish defenseman owns a full no-movement clause, and has a hefty cap hit of $10 million which counts against Pittsburgh’s books through the 2026-27 season.
Yohe continued: “Karlsson might still be capable of helping the right team, but that team isn’t the Penguins. The Penguins are already horribly flawed defensively, and Karlsson throws gasoline onto that fire. He hasn’t fit in well with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the power play, and, while Karlsson sometimes works five-on-five magic in the offensive zone, it’s hardly a regularity.”
Considering the Penguins’ front office wants to get younger — Karlsson is 34-years-old — it might make sense for all parties involved to give the D-man a change of scenery.
Karlsson was fantastic for Team Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off, at times looking like the best player on the ice throughout the tournament. That performance has increased his trade value, per Yohe.
“An NHL team executive also told me he believes Karlsson is more likely to be dealt this summer, when the salary cap has risen dramatically. At that point, the executive said, teams will be more likely to take on the majority of Karlsson’s bulky contract,” reported Yohe.
“One way or another, it seems unlikely that Karlsson will play out his contract in Pittsburgh. The Penguins view a very small list of players as being unmovable. Karlsson is most certainly not one of them. ”
Penguins continuing to fade away in Eastern Conference
There’s no doubt that Karlsson is a future first-ballot Hall of Famer, and hockey fans won’t soon forget his 101-point campaign with the San Jose Sharks in 2022-23.
But he has just seemed out of place in Pittsburgh, and although the hope was that acquiring him would help an aging Penguins core continue to be competitive, that hasn’t been the case. As he continues to chase an elusive Stanley Cup, a move to a potential contender probably wouldn’t be the worst thing for the blue liner.
Through 59 games in 2024-25, the Pens are 23-27-9 and dead last in the Metropolitan Division. The chances of making a late postseason run are razor thin, and that could lead to a couple of hard conversations between Karlsson and Pittsburgh’s brass.
There are a couple of other players who could be on the move as well; Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor were already dealt to the Vancouver Canucks earlier this year. Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust and Noel Acciari are also players who could get dealt, per Yohe.
If Karlsson is indeed made available, he will be one of the top trade chips on the market ahead of the deadline. It’ll be intriguing to see if the Penguins can find a dance partner for the veteran sometime within the next 10 days.
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