Erik Karlsson Wants To Win: 3 Contenders Linked To Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins are going into a rebuild, whether Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are still on the team or not. This may be the final year that the team doesn't completely fall to the bottom of the standings, but if there are some more trades, that timeline could be moved up.

Erik Karlsson continues to be shopped by the Penguins, but it's not all that easy moving a player that wants to win and will only go to a contender, has a full no-move clause, and a $10 million AAV cap hit. One thing is certain, the Penguins are going to have to retain a chunk of his contract for the final two years. These are the three contenders who have been linked to Karlsson this summer.

Florida Panthers

First up is the Florida Panthers. I'm going to try to make this make sense, but with the injury to Matthew Tkachuk, the Panthers might be able to pull this off. Initially, a fully healthy team would have to have seen Evan Rodrigues traded before the season, but now, he will likely start the 2025-26 season on the Panthers and another addition made on top of it. Aaron Ekblad was brought back and Seth Jones is still on the team. The right side is full and there are options for the sixth/seventh defenseman, so I don't see a fit here. Regardless, There had to have been something as The Fourth Period connected the two on their summer trade board.

Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes are said to make the most sense by Frank Seravalli, but there's also something to consider with Shayne Gostisbehere playing a similar role for much cheaper. With the cap space the Hurricanes have, they should utilize it, so adding Karlsson does give them a better chance to win immediately than holding onto some prospects that may never see time with Carolina in the NHL. There would be two very good power-play units with Karlsson brought in and Carolina continues to make it deep in the playoffs, so the veteran would definitely feel like it is a team that can win or give him a chance to.

Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars are still looking to get better on the right side of their defense and Karlsson would definitely do it. Thomas Harley did a good job on the top power-play unit for the majority of last season, but Karlsson is still a step up there at this point. The Stars don't have cap space, so they would have to clear that and would likely only be able to pull off a trade like this if Jason Robertson was moved, but not back to the Penguins. The Stars have been to the conference finals three seasons in a row, so they are right there too.