The team lost Brent Burns to free agency this summer, and now have a big hole to fill on the right side of their blueline. It's going to come down to money as Karlsson's on the books for two more seasons at $10 million AAV, and if the Penguins will retain at least 20% of his remaining salary, the Hurricanes would apparently jump on the opportunity.
Carolina has over $10 million in cap space to work with this summer, even after giving Nik Ehlers a boat load of money. They have a nice balance up front, two solid goaltenders, and their defence core is their only question mark at this point. Karlsson would be a great get for them and a bit of a bounce-back project, but one worth taking a risk on.