Penguins Officially Acquire Erik Karlsson From Sharks
Cody Glenn/USA TODAY Sports
After months of speculation, the reigning Norris Trophy winner has found a new home. Early Sunday morning, Sharks general manager Mike Grier sent D Erik Karlsson to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a three-team, twelve-piece trade involving the Montreal Canadians.
In the three-team deal, the Penguins received Karlsson, the centerpiece of the trade, at a discount. San Jose retained 13 percent of his salary for the remaining four seasons left on his contract. That totals out at nearly $1.5 million annually, making Karlsson’s cap hit an even $10 million for the Penguins.
Along with Karlsson, the Penguins received F Dillon Hamaliuk from the Sharks, and F Rem Pitlick from the Canadians.
The Sharks acquired the Penguin's 2024 first-round pick, which is top-10 protected, and F Mikael Granlund and D Jan Rutta from the Penguins. They also received F Mike Hoffman from Montreal.
The Canadians acquired the Penguins' 2025 second-round pick, D Jeff Petry (25 percent salary retained by Pittsburgh), G Casey DeSmith, and F Nathan Legare from the Penguins.
All in all, the Penguins moved out four roster players, one prospect, and two draft picks in order to bring in the future Hall-of-Fame defender.
In doing so, Penguin's newly named general manager and president of hockey operations, Kyle Dubas, also shed the team of many contracts and players that were holding the team back. In order to make a deal for Karlsson, it was identified early on that Petry would become a casualty. The Penguins were forced to send him to a third team in order to facilitate the deal, as Petry’s “no trade clause” allowed him to block a trade to the Sharks. In order to entice Montreal to take Petry, a player they dealt to Pittsburgh just a year prior, the Penguins retained 25 percent of his salary and sent a second-round draft pick, a forward prospect, and a backup goalie. Getting 75 percent of Petry’s salary off the books saves the Penguins over $4.6 million per season for the next two years. DeSmith’s departure accounts for another $1.8 million saved.
The Sharks took the brunt of the bad contracts off the Penguin's hands, however. San Jose took on Granlund’s full cap hit, $5 million for each of the next two seasons. In March, then-general manager Ron Hextall sent out a second-round pick to Nashville for Granlund. Now, in August, he’s become a cap dump. Many assumed that Granlund would be a buyout candidate, as the Penguins had a second buyout window open this weekend, following the scheduled arbitration hearing date for F Drew O’Connor. San Jose also took on Rutta, who Hextall signed last offseason. Rutta has two more seasons left on a contract that pays him $2.75 million annually. Prior to the start of the offseason, I wrote an article on PSF discussing how Ron Hextall destroyed the Penguins defensive group, by acquiring Petry and Rutta and losing D John Marino and D Michael Matheson. In just one trade, Dubas sent both Hextall acquisitions, Petry and Rutta, packing.
Between Petry, DeSmith, Granlund, and Rutta, the Penguins shed over $14 million in cap space in just one trade. Bringing in Karlsson and Pitlick added slightly over $11 million, meaning the Penguins actually left the trade with roughly $3 million in additional cap space they didn’t have to start the day.
For the Sharks, they needed to trade away Karlsson. Karlsson requested to be dealt away from San Jose, to a team that could give him a chance to win a Stanley Cup. Karlsson was just a season removed from seemingly being on a downward trajectory of his career, as many believed the best hockey of his career was behind him. He would go on to have a record-setting season, re-inflating his trade value. Only a few teams expressed interest in acquiring Karlsson. Grier had stated many times how unwilling he was to retain more than a small percentage of Karlsson’s salary, and he got his way. Instead of eating more of Karlsson’s salary, he was able to take on contracts the Penguins wanted to get rid of. Granlund and Rutta could both become trade chips for the Sharks to use later on, as well. Both players will have an elevated role on a worse Sharks team and could increase their value over the course of the next season or two. Karlsson’s deal has four years left, while both Granlund and Rutta only have two. San Jose’s timeline to be competitive likely aims to start before the conclusion of Karlsson’s contract but after the conclusion of Granlund and Rutta’s deals.
For the Canadians, they got a few lottery tickets. Petry could become what Granlund and Rutta are for the Sharks. He could play a role that increases his trade value, allowing Montreal to retain his salary, making him a cheaper asset that can yield future assets. Two future assets were also acquired in Legare and a 2025 second-round pick. Legare, once upon a time, was one of the higher-end forward prospects in the Penguins organization but never seemed to make the jump. Many attribute that to his below-average skating ability. Legare may have a chance to play NHL games this year on Montreal’s bottom six. It doesn’t hurt either that Legare is heading to his hometown. Hopefully, that is the jolt he needs to become an everyday NHL player. DeSmith also gives Montreal another option in the net. Currently, the Habs have Jake Allen and Samuel Montembeault. DeSmith will likely be the backup behind Allen, as he has much more experience than Montembeault.
All of that being said, the Penguins won this deal. They acquired the best player, which is a good baseline on who wins a trade, typically. Along with that, they dropped three “dead-weight” contracts in Granlund, Petry, and Rutta. Those Hextall additions held the team back financially and took up valuable roster spots. The fact Dubas was able to acquire Karlsson and get rid of those contracts in one deal, certifies this as a masterclass by Dubas. In terms of young, valuable assets, the Penguins only had to give up a 2024 first-round pick and a 2025 second-round pick. Over the past few trade deadlines, Lightning F Brandon Hagel and F Tanner Jeannot both individually required more value to acquire than the reigning Norris Trophy winner.
The Penguins now have what I believe to be the best top-four defenders that they’ve had in the Crosby/Malkin era. The left side will be reserved for defensively-minded defensemen in Ryan Graves and Marcus Pettersson. The right side is reserved for two of the best offensive defensemen of the generation, Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang.
I wrote another article a few weeks ago about why a Karlsson-to-Pittsburgh trade makes sense, and it still holds true. Karlsson immediately steps in as the quarterback of the top power-play unit, the spot previously held by Kris Letang for over a decade. Letang likely can slide down the ice to a left-side “bumper” type position. This is the top power-play unit as I see it, when fully healthy.
Crosby
Letang - Guentzel
Karlsson - Malkin
Potential four future Hall-of-Famers on one power play unit has to be a first of its kind. Karlsson’s defensive deficiencies are well-noted, but I don’t believe that will be an issue.
The team’s power play ranked fourteenth last season. The Penguins ranked seventeenth in the league in overall goals scored. Karlsson will no doubt improve the team’s offense.
The Penguin's legacy includes some of the largest names in the sport’s history. Lemieux, Crosby, Jagr, Malkin, Francis, Murphy, and Letang along with many others are some of the legendary names in the game who have donned the Penguins sweater. Karlsson, a once-in-a-generation player, joins that list.
Fenway Sports Group and Kyle Dubas, in their first offseason as a married administration, swung for the fences. This move gives Penguins fans excitement, comfort, and ease which is a complete 180 from the previous leadership group. It feels similar to the early years of Jim Rutherford’s reign in Pittsburgh. If the social media reaction was any preview, the Penguins faithful will welcome Karlsson with open arms on October 10, when he takes the ice for his Penguins debut, in the same game Connor Bedard will make his NHL debut at PPG Paints Arena.
