Hurricanes Interested In Erik Karlsson

The Carolina Hurricanes are keeping tabs on the status of Erik Karlsson, according to Pierre LeBrun of TSN. He talked earlier on TSN’s Early Trading regarding this:

The Penguins are gonna be sellers, he’s got a full, no-move clause, so all roads lead through Karlsson and his agent. My understanding is that his camp will convene with Kyle Dubas, the GM of the Penguins in the new year and figure out a pathway to where this is headed but one team to keep an eye on is the Carolina Hurricanes. They were the runners-up for Karlsson back in the summer of 23… had a ton of interest in him. I’m told they still do, and why wouldn’t they? They tried to sign John Carlson on July 1, Tampa swooped in and got him instead, but it tells you about maybe the one need that the Stanley Cup champions field, maybe they still have similar players… I expect the Hurricanes to be bidders if and when the Penguins open up.”

For a player of his caliber and experience, this doesn’t come as much of a major surprise for the defending Cup Champions. The 36-year-old is in the final year of his eight-year, $92MM contract, a deal that pays him $11.5MM annually. Karlsson leads the Penguins in scoring with 19 points, on pace for 71 assists, which would surpass his career-high of 66 set back in 2015-16, when he was 25. Despite such a great start of production for Karlsson, his teammates and overall situation are by far the toughest since he began wearing black and yellow, and the worst start since the team brought in Sidney Crosby in 2005-2006. Pittsburgh is 7-10-2 to start the year and sits at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, with little hope that will dig their way out of it.

The veteran Swede’s stint with the Pens is his third team he’s dressed for since originally joining the Senators, the team that selected him 15th overall back in 2008. Karlsson finished his final year in Ottawa with 62 points in 71 games, having led Ottawa in points or tied for the team lead each of the past five seasons, leading up to his being dealt to the San Jose Sharks in 2018-19. Within his swims with San Jose, he won the Norris Trophy for the third time in 2022-23, having finished the season with a 25-76—101 statline in 82 games, a career-high in his illustrious NHL tenure.

The Hurricanes, who are currently opposite the Penguins, had tried to get him from San Jose back in that summer of 2023, being runner-up to the Penguins, according to LeBrun, and could severely benefit from an acquisition like Karlsson still if a deal were to be made. Pittsburgh is looking to get younger and could command a very hefty price for a player who, even though he is set to become 37, even as a rental, is still a productive scorer on the blueline. His time in Pittsburgh has proven he is aging like fine wine, and if this downward trend continues for the organization, parting ways seems like the best idea for both camps.

Karlsson is coming off his best season in Pittsburgh, scoring 66 points in 75 games last year. He was one of, if not arguably the Penguins’ best player last season and carried the team through a large stint after the Milan Olympics, when the team was without the services of Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. In his four seasons in Pennsylvania, he’s averaged above 60 points a season, numbers he was tallying as a Norris Trophy contender back in his prime.

How does this work in Carolina’s court? First and foremost, Karlsson’s contract carries a full No-Movement Clause. Pittsburgh is paying nearly 87% of Karlsson’s current contract, as San Jose is retaining $1.5MM of the total AAV, so this situation cannot become a reality, as Karlsson will need to dictate where he wants to go. The Hurricanes hold a little above $8MM in cap space and can make the money work.

If the Penguins and Hurricanes wanted to make a deal where the value can begin to add up, it’d make sense for Carolina to perhaps look at Alexander Nikishin, who settled on a one-year, $3MM contract after holding out all summer with a trade request. The young Russian scored 11 goals and 33 points in his rookie NHL season last year, playing slightly above 18 minutes a night. The 24-year-old defenseman gained a lot of experience en route to winning a Stanley Cup. In his first game back with the Canes this season, he scored a goal for three points against the Blackhawks, playing a little above 20 minutes. Perhaps situationally, a deal starts there.