Now that the Pittsburgh Penguins are in rebuild mode, much has been made this offseason about the potential trade candidacy of the trio of Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust, and Erik Karlsson. Regarding the latter candidate, while speaking on the Kevin Karius Show, Josh Yohe of The Athletic expects a trade to be completed sooner rather than later, with one team in particular leading the pack.
According to Yohe, the Detroit Red Wings have been the most active team in their pursuit of Karlsson. This isn’t to say that the Red Wings are the only interested party, but they are the team that Yohe has heard the most about. Detroit is in a unique position as a team looking to contend, which could also conceivably afford Karlsson’s total $10MM cap hit.
If the Red Wings considered taking on Karlsson’s full salary, it would limit any potential trade return for the Penguins, but it could be the best option for the rebuilding club. It’s not complicated to ascertain Detroit’s purported interest in Karlsson, as the right side of their defense behind Moritz Seider is undeniably thin.
While Karlsson’s defensive weaknesses have become more evident in his game over the past two years, he would certainly be an improvement for the Red Wings behind Seider. Additionally, bringing him in wouldn’t create any long-term commitments, which General Manager Steve Yzerman has generally worked to avoid during his early years managing Detroit’s front office.
Other notes from the Eastern Conference:
- Yesterday evening, the Buffalo Sabres surprised many by inking netminder Alexandar Georgiev to a one-year pact for the 2025-26 season. Given that Buffalo already has Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Devon Levi, and Alex Lyon rostered for next year, there wasn’t an apparent positional need for Georgiev. Giving context to the signing in a new article on The Athletic, Matthew Fairburn reported that team sources indicated that Luukkonen “tweaked” something over summer training, and the Sabres are unsure when he’ll be back to full health. No reports indicate that Luukkonen has sustained a serious injury, but it is something to monitor during training camp.
- Speaking for the first time on the trade that sent him from the Carolina Hurricanes to the New York Rangers, defenseman Scott Morrow described the news as bittersweet. In a recent interview with John Kreiser of Forever Blueshirts, Morrow was quoted as saying, “It was definitely a little bit of disappointment leaving Carolina because it’s a great organization, but I’m super pumped to be here.” As the principal player acquired for K’Andre Miller, Morrow is expected to compete for a spot on the Rangers’ opening night roster.
I don’t know why the Pens would limit their return by forcing the entire salary on a team. Dumping him just to dump isn’t going to help the rebuild.
Aye, I’m thinking much the same. Other than saving on paying out salary, how would not retaining to the max (and thus pretty much zeroing out any return) help Pittsburgh in the slightest? It’s not as if they want to go get people with that money, the team just plain needs to tank.
Karlsson this, Karlsson that! He’s useless when it matters.