The Penguins almost swung a deal for Erik Karlsson 23 days ago. As we approach August not much has changed. The Penguins are still interested and the Sharks haven’t bit on an offer yet. The latest information states Karlsson has spoken to four teams.
After winning the Golden Puck as Sweden's best hockey player, Erik Karlsson opened up about his ongoing trade process.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) July 22, 2023
Confirmed he's spoken with Pittsburgh, Carolina, Seattle and Toronto -- plus others -- and says "I just want the best chance to get to the best team." https://t.co/7jEWe2KvPg
The comment by Karlsson is sure to get people talking and dissecting who is he talking about. I’m taking it more as a generic platitude. Carolina would be the best team here. They also don’t appear to be willing to spend a lot to acquire him. Toronto looks like they will have to either LTIR or buyout Matt Murray to make theier cap work so I’m not really sure what their path is to a Karlsson trade unless they go off the deep end and trade William Nylander. Seattle is an intriguing team. They have a lot of short term contracts and all of their draft picks. I can’t say I know how motivated the Kraken are in their pursuit, just that I’m sure they could figure a deal out if they really wanted to pursue.
The wait continues.
Thanks for reading!