Insider: Penguins Open to Trading Erik Karlsson

PITTSBURGH – During his first season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, a lot of trade speculation has risen over future Hall of Fame defenseman Erik Karlsson. Many believe a move back to the Ottawa Senators makes a lot of sense for all involved, but the Penguins don’t seem willing to move Karlsson, but that’s just for the moment.

According to Josh Yohe of the Athletic, the Penguins could be open to having discussions about Karlsson.

“I do believe the Penguins would consider moving on from Karlsson,” Yohe writes. “It’s not that they don’t recognize his genius on the ice and they assuredly do not regret last summer’s trade with San Jose. Far from it… It just hasn’t worked.”

In 67 games with the Penguins, Karlsson has only scored eight goals and 38 assists for 46 total points. Karlsson wasn’t expected to hit 100 points again, but this is a considerable drop-off from what was expected.

Karlsson has lethal shooting ability, but it’s rare he uses it. He’s only scored a pair of goals in his last 47 games.

Yohe went on to mention that the Penguins have a ton of players well past the age of 30 who make a lot of money against the salary cap, and Karlsson is one of them. Karlsson is 33 years old, and even with a retained salary with the San Jose Sharks, he costs $10 million against the Penguins cap.

“To remove themselves from his considerable salary is something, I suspect, that Kyle Dubas would be open to discussing.”

Karlsson was asked about trade rumors involving the Senators, and he playfully brushed it off, saying, “That’s Canada for you.” Still, the Penguins are a phone call away from making speculation a reality.

At this moment, Dubas believes Karlsson is part of the Penguins core and doesn’t want to move on from him just yet, but nothing is off the table in rebuilding the team on the fly.