The Penguins’ core might be aging, but that didn’t stop them from making a critical trade Sunday.
They acquired defenseman Erik Karlsson from the Sharks in a three-team deal that also involved the Canadiens, with San Jose receiving a 2024 first-round pick, forward Mikael Granlund, defenseman Jan Rutta and left winger Mike Hoffman, the team announced.
The Canadiens acquired forward Nathan Legare, defenseman Jeff Petry, goaltender Casey DeSmith and a 2025 second-round selection, according to ESPN, while the Penguins also got Rem Pitlick and Dillon Hamaliuk — both forwards — and a 2026 third-round pick to complete the deal.
Karlsson’s tenure in San Jose seemed likely to end this offseason, and in Nashville in June, when he won the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman for the third time in his career, Karlsson revealed that a trade to a contending team was his desire.
“I think there’s a lot of teams that want to do it. Not necessarily a lot of teams that can do it,” Karlsson said, according to Sportsnet.“I’m not looking to be greedy. I’m not looking to do what’s best for me personally. I want it professionally to be a good situation. That’s what I’m going to base my decision off, and I hope that obviously, sooner or later, we can figure out what those options are.”
The 33-year-old Karlsson played in all 82 games for the Sharks in 2022-23, scoring 25 goals and adding another 76 assists to top 100 points for the first time.
San Jose, though, finished as the second-worst team in the Pacific Division and just two points ahead of the Ducks, with their run to the Western Conference finals in 2018-19 — Karlsson’s first year with the team — getting distant as their most recent playoff appearance.
Karlsson spent his first nine NHL seasons with the Senators after they selected him No. 15 overall in the 2008 NHL Draft.
He’ll join a Penguins group that narrowly missed out on a postseason berth last season, finishing with 91 points behind the Panthers’ 92 and the Islanders’ 93.
They’ll face a competitive Metropolitan Division, with the Rangers, Hurricanes, Devils and Islanders all positioned as playoff contenders again, but Sidney Crosby returns for another season after playing in all 82 games for the first time since 2017-18 and recording 93 points.
Evgeni Malkin (83) and Jake Guentzel (73) both emerged as focal points of Pittsburgh’s offense, too, and they’ll have another right-handed defenseman to likely fill the depth chart ahead of Kris Letang.
“I want to win,” Karlsson said in Nashville, according to ESPN. “That’s not to say that I’m going to win. I want an opportunity to win. If that opportunity is not in San Jose right now within my timeline, then that’s just the unfortunate part of business. That’s not to say that I don’t like it there or they don’t want me there or we don’t want this to work. It’s just that’s just the way it is.”
Nearly six weeks later, the Sharks found a way to grant his request.
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