Erik Karlsson Enters Trade Targets Board After 4 Nations Performance

The Pittsburgh Penguins have already made one big trade, sending Marcus Pettersson to the Vancouver Canucks, and they still have plenty of other notable names that have been making the rounds on the rumor mill, Rickard Rakell, Anthony Beauvillier & Matt Grzelcyk among them.

And while GM Kyle Dubas would likely love to correct a big mistake he made when he acquired Erik Karlsson and his $10M AAV, a potential trade hasn't been looked at as a real possibility... until now.

Karlsson has emerged on the newest edition of Daily Faceoff's Trade Targets Board, as Frank Seravalli notes that his performance at the 4 Nations Face-Off for Sweden has rekindled his trade value, and he has him coming in at #25 on his list, Karlsson's first appearance there of the season.

What was in the water at 4 Nations? It was amazing to see Karlsson turn back the clock a decade to 2015, turning in vintage ‘EK65’ performances – particularly for Team Sweden against Canada in Montreal to open the tournament. It was a reminder that at 34, Karlsson has some game left – even if we’ve barely seen it in Pittsburgh.

Karlsson still has two more years after this one at that $10M cap hit, so unless the Penguins retain a huge chunk of it, it'll be very difficult to get a deal done. But as Seravalli notes, Pittsburgh does have one retention slot left, and if they take on enough of that money, "it’d get interesting."

The three-time Norris Trophy winner came over to the Pens as one of Dubas's first moves as the new GM in the summer of 2023, but the offensive D-man simply hasn't lived up to his billing. He was coming off his 3rd Norris when he arrived, and a 101-point season. But in his first year in Pittsburgh, he recorded just 56 points in 82 games, and this year has slipped to 38 points in 57 games, with a plus/minus rating of minus-14.

Would there be a team that might think he's a better fit? A team that's desperate for a power play quarterback perhaps? Even with 50% retention, it would still be a $5M cap hit for any receiving team, so they'd really have to buy in on Karlsson, 34, rekindling his Norris form, or at least something much closer to it.