Penguins chief Kyle Dubas yesterday pulled off the NHL’s biggest trade of the offseason, acquiring Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Erik Karlsson and in the process slicing away some of the team’s most cumbersome contracts. The Penguins get Karlsson from San Jose along with Montreal forwards Rem Pitlick and Dillon Hamaliuk, and the Pens also acquire San Jose’s 2026 third round draft pick.
San Jose gets forward Mikael Granlund and defenseman Jan Rutta from the Penguins and forward Mike Hoffman from Montreal, and the Penguins’ 2024 first-round draft pick, which is protected. If it’s a top ten pick, the Penguins retrain it and the Sharks get the Pens’ 2025 top pick.
Montreal receives the Penguins 2025 second round choice, re-acquires defenseman Jeff Petry from the Penguins, and also gets Pens goaltender Casey DeSmith and forward prospect Nathan Legare
According to CapFriendly.com, the Penguins’ will be $79,342 over the NHL salary cap after beginning yesterday more than $3.2 million over the cap.
With the acquisition of Karlsson, and with Kris Letang also on the blue line, the Penguins have two speedy, highly-skilled offensive defensemen and plenty of offense up front with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust, and Rickard Rakell. Of course, they also have Jake Guentzel, the All-Star forward who will miss at least the next twelve weeks after having ankle surgery last Wednesday. The team says Guentzel will be “re-evaluated” after twelve weeks. He led the Pens in goals last season with 36.
DeSmith’s departure means free agent signee Alex Nedeljkovic becomes the Penguins’ backup goaltender.
