Penguins Acquire Erik Karlsson
It actually happened! Erik Karlsson has a new home and he’s heading to the steel city. The Sharks have traded the 100-point defenseman to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff was the first to report the news:
I recently did a post on whether Karlsson made sense for the Penguins. You can read that full post here. However, on paper the fit kinda makes sense. Kris Letang now has way less pressure to produce offensively. We’re also talking about an older team that wants to make one last push. After missing the playoffs a year ago for the first time in 16 seasons, this is a trade at least can help talk yourself into Pittsburgh being a legit contender again. Anytime you have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, you have a chance.
Kyle Dubas has been aggressive since taking over as the general manager and clearly believes this team can still win at a high level. Prior to this, the other high profile trade Dubas made was by acquiring Reilly Smith.
Obviously, Karlsson has a chance to be a serious game changer. We’re talking about a guy that just won the Norris (and rightfully so). Karlsson is a negative on defense but is clearly one of the most talented puck moving defenseman in the entire league.
The Montreal Canadiens are also involved in the trade as a third team. There are a lot of moving pieces in this deal. Below is the official team announcement from the Penguins. San Jose is retaining 13% on Karlsson while Pittsburgh retains 25% on Petry.
