Penguins President Kyle Dubas reportedly working towards a significant trade

Per multiple reports from Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman in recent weeks, the Pens appear to be a finalist in the Karlsson sweepstakes - the other being Carolina. On Wednesday, during an appearance on NHL Network, Friedman revealed that the two horse race seems to be going back and forth between the two Metropolitan Division teams. According to Friedman's report last night, Carolina seems to have a deal in mind that the San Jose Sharks aren't quite comfortable with, which might make the Dubas' Penguins the favourite to land Karlsson at this point.

Sharks GM Mike Grier has already publicly stated that he has no intention of retaining 50% on Karlsson. The most recent report on a retention number that Grier is comfortable with is closer to the 20% mark.

Karlsson carries an $11.5M cap hit, which has been problematic for a number of interested teams. The key issue the Pens have here is that they're limited in terms of opening up cap space because of the number of no-move and no-trade clauses currently on the roster. Having to contend with those clauses is not making life easy for Dubas with a trade of this magnitude in his sights.

Obviously, there's still a lot of summer left to work with. The Pens do have some options available to them, as Mikael Granlund is a player who carries a lofty $5M salary and no protection against a trade in his contract. I'd imagine he'll be a key piece in all of this, whether it's sending him back to San Jose as a balancing piece or moving him to another club with a sweetener to open up space. We'll have to wait and see how this all plays out.