Does Erik Karlsson Make Sense For The Penguins?
Erik Karlsson has expressed a desire to leave San Jose in order to pursue another chance at winning. Karlsson has said repeatedly that he wants a trade out of San Jose. Unfortunately, Sharks general manager Mike Grier remains brain-dead and completely delusional about a potential return on a trade. Thus far, we’re still at a standstill.
It’s already been reported that the Hurricanes, Kraken, Maple Leafs, and Penguins remain in the race to land the Norris Trophy winning defenseman (and well-deserved Norris albeit). The Maple Leafs are currently over the cap and I have no idea why Karlsson makes sense for them after they just signed John Klingberg. The Canes just struck a deal for Tony DeAngelo so a move for Karlsson doesn’t make much sense either. The Kraken are just in year three of their existence and calling them a win-now team doesn’t really feel right.
That leaves Pittsburgh.
Does Karlsson make sense for the Penguins? Actually… they kinda do.
I’ve argued that the Oilers should have been the team that got this deal done. If not Edmonton, then Florida made a ton of sense. Neither of those teams feel like they’re in the mix for cap reasons. Pittsburgh is actually in a unique spot where they feel like the team that should get this deal done.
The Penguins are kinda stuck. The core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang is aging fast. This Penguins team just missed the playoffs for the first time in 16 seasons. It’s also a Pittsburgh team that has no real pool of future talent. The Penguins either need to go all in or tear it down. Tearing it down doesn’t feel like an option at this current moment.
Pittsburgh also doesn’t feel like they’re much better than a year ago. Jason Zucker is out and Reilly Smith is in. That doesn’t feel like enough to convince fans they’re back in it. Adding a Norris Trophy winner sure would spark some excitement.
Karlsson would take a lot of offensive heat off of Letang. Furthermore, the Penguins have a lot of gross contracts they could dump in the deal. How does the poo poo platter of Jeff Petry and Mikal Granlund sound! Granlund has stunk with Pittsburgh but he’s the type of contact they could move in this deal.
At this point, Pittsburgh feels like our only hope of watching Karlsson play for a contender. We also probably shouldn’t get our hopes up given how dumb Grier is. Karlsson may have to waste away in San Jose because Grier is too dumb to move him. Let’s hope that’s not the case for entertainment value alone.
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