Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

Penguins Were Close to Massive Trade for Karlsson on July 1

Originally posted on NHL Trade Talk | Last updated 7/12/23

According to Josh Yohe of The Athletic, while the Pittsburgh Penguins are still in the mix to acquire Erik Karlsson from the San Jose Sharks, at one point, they almost already did. Noting that the Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes are the two frontrunners for Karlsson’s services, Yohe is reporting that a blockbuster deal almost went down on the first day of free agency that would have seen Karlsson moved to Pittsburgh in a whopper of a trade.

He writes, “…the Penguins were extremely close to landing Karlsson on July 1. A deal was close to being completed that morning, which would have rocked the hockey world on what is already a volatile day.” He goes on to say, “I know Kyle Dubas likes him. A lot. Does that mean the deal happens? Your guess is as good as mine, but there’s obviously a real chance that it happens.”

This is quite the report considering how active Dubas was in free agency. Signing a number of players, Dubas added Ryan Graves, Noel Acciari, Lars Eller, Matt Nieto, and others. He spent a huge amount of money early and put the team over the salary cap ceiling rather quickly. It’s intriguing to hear about the Karlsson trade talk, especially if you factor in whether that deal was going to go down before or after all these UFA contracts were signed.

If the former, one has to wonder if Dubas moved on to other business. If the latter, one has to wonder if Dubas felt he had a trade in his back pocket, with a way to move out salary and get back under the cap. And, what exactly were the pieces Dubas was ready and willing to move out? Finally, who backed away from the table? Was it the Sharks or was it the Penguins?

Where Are Things At Now?

Yohe goes on to answer another question in his mailbag article regarding Karlsson. The question was if the trade talk was cooling down and if a deal was still likely. He responded, “Chilling as in freaking out? Or chilling as in calming down? I’ll assume the latter. I think there’s a bit of a stalemate at the moment between the Penguins, Canes and Sharks. But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.”

This article first appeared on NHL Trade Talk and was syndicated with permission.

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