Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson. Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Even Erik Karlsson is poking fun at the struggling Toronto Maple Leafs

Originally posted on NHL Trade Talk | By Jackson Weber | Last updated Mar 1, 2026 8:50 PM ET

The rest of the hockey world tends to have fun with the Toronto Maple Leafs’ struggles, so the 2025-26 season — particularly the last three games — has provided plenty of fodder, and on Sunday, it was a fellow NHL player who took a playful shot at them.

After Paul Bissonnette — a noted Maple Leafs fan — and the rest of the NHL on TNT crew said pregame that Pittsburgh could be in trouble in its afternoon affair against Vegas, the Penguins turned the tables, stomping the Golden Knights 5-0.

Their postgame interview guest was Erik Karlsson, who let Bissonnette know he heard what he said before taking a jab at the free-falling Maple Leafs and urging him to jump on the Penguins train.

Karlsson said:

"I heard what he said before this game I heard about that I don’t like that… I was going to ask Biz what I have to do to recruit him to get on our train because I think his is about to hit a brick wall soon. We need you to come over to this side a little bit… Penguins train, Biz — the Penguins train. You’ve got to hop off the other one."

The 35-year-old Karlsson is having his best season as a Penguin, both statistically and through the eye test, with 38 points (four goals, 34 assists) produced in 54 games.

He’s in year seven of the eight-year, $92M contract originally signed with the Sharks in 2019, which Pittsburgh pays $10M of, thanks to San Jose retaining $1.5M annually.

Funny enough, despite Pittsburgh being 12 points ahead of Toronto in the standings, they actually struggled mightily against them this regular season. The Penguins dropped all three games to the Maple Leafs in regulation, being outscored 17-8 in the process.

If the two teams only played each other, they might be in drastically different positions — but thankfully for Pittsburgh, and unfortunately for Toronto, that’s not reality.

While Karlsson is having fun right now, the Penguins still have a lot of work to do to get the job done and make the postseason for the first time since 2021-22 — especially with Sidney Crosby out for a month. That said, this is the deepest team they’ve had in a long time, and if their first three games without the captain are any indication of what’s to come, playoff hockey will be returning to the Steel City.

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

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