NHL Rumors: Erik Karlsson Trade Options Dwindling

Erik Karlsson trade suitors are dropping off

Pittsburgh Penguins GM Kyle Dubas came into this offseason with every intention of trading veteran defenseman Erik Karlsson. But sometimes, the best laid plans...

As Shayna Goldman writes in The Athletic, where there were once as many as eight teams that made sense for a Karlsson trade, those options "have dwindled," and Dubas may be stuck with EK65 into the coming season. The Penguins would have to retain plenty of the $10M cap hit they own on the three-time Norris Trophy winner for talks to really go somewhere.

Let's run down the teams that appear to have dropped out of the Karlsson chase:

4 Teams Seem To Be Out of the Erik Karlsson Trade Sweepstakes

The Carolina Hurricanes, once considered a prime landing spot, have gone out and made a big splash on the blueline already this month, conducting a sign-and-trade to acquire K'Andre Miller from the New York Rangers, signing the young d-man to an eight-year, $60 million deal ($7.5M AAV). Although Miller is a left-shot, and they are thin on the right side with the departure of Brent Burns, "management may not want to take another massive swing on defense after Miller", writes Goldman.

The Florida Panthers would have been an option had they not been able to re-sign Aaron Ekblad, but his new eight-year, $48.8 million ($6.1M AAV) extension puts them out of the running. They are currently $3.7M over the salary cap, and would not have the room to take on Karlsson, no matter how much the Penguins would retain.

The Vegas Golden Knights, who never shy away from going after the big, shiny toy on the market (see: Marner, Mitch), could be holding a spot to swing a deal, perhaps at the trade deadline, if not before, for Calgary Flames d-man Rasmus Andersson, who has them at the top of his wish list.

Not to mention the fact that Vegas is currently $7.6 million over the cap. Karlsson isn't really an option here.

The Ottawa Senators bringing back Karlsson was seen as a potential storybook development, but after they traded for young right-D Jordan Spence, writes Goldman, the Sens "should probably see what Spence has to offer before committing to Karlsson’s contract."

Karlsson has two years to run on his deal that pays him $11.5M annually (the San Jose Sharks retained $1.5M when they dealt him to Pittsburgh), so the Penguins do have up to two more trade deadlines to work with to deal him, if it comes to that. But at the age of 35, the Pens will want to strike sooner rather than later, before he really begins to slow down.