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Penguins Exploring Major Trade as Salary Retention Becomes a Key Factor
The Pittsburgh Penguins have been rumoured to be looking to move on from defenseman Erik Karlsson, but salary retention could be a key factor.
Former Norris Trophy winning defenseman Erik Karlsson may be only in his 2nd year with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but they've been rumoured to already be looking to move on from him.
And while Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas wasn't able to execute a trade at the recently completed Trade Deadline, a move could be coming as soon as this summer.
During a recent Q+A session, beat writer Josh Yohe of The Athletic believes that salary retention will be the key in any potential deal during the summer that would send Karlsson away from Pittsburgh.
Question: Can the Pens combine some draft picks with Erik Karlsson to get someone to take his entire contract off their hands, or will they eat part of it regardless?
Answer: I believe Karlsson will be traded this summer, though I don't know that draft picks need to be included. It's more about salary retention. League sources told me that Karlsson will be a desired commodity if the Penguins retain around $3 million in the final two years of his deal. Karlsson, at $7 million annually, is someone teams would want, and the Penguins might even receive a decent asset in return.
Karlsson's AAV (average annual value) on his current deal is $11.5 million, a considerable amount that would likely cause massive hesitation for any team potentially interested in acquiring him.
In order to facilitate a trade, it looks as though the Penguins will have to eat some of Karlsson's salary.
He was acquired by the Penguins in a 2023 summer trade from the San Jose Sharks, but his numbers have dropped considerably from his career-best 101 points in 2022-23.
Last year, he had 56 points (11G, 45A) and is on pace for a nearly equal amount this year.
| POLL | ||
MARS 13 | 255 ANSWERS Penguins Exploring Major Trade as Salary Retention Becomes a Key Factor Will Erik Karlsson be with the Penguins next year? | ||
| Yes | 71 | 27.8 % |
| No | 184 | 72.2 % |
| List of polls | ||