Daily Nuggets: Karlsson Trade Reactions

The Erik Karlsson trade saga ended Sunday. The Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks, and Montreal Canadiens collaborated to make it happen.

The Penguins received Karlsson and paying $10 million of his $11.5 million salary, Rem Pitlick, Dillion Hamaliuk, and the Sharks’ 2026 third-round pick. The Sharks received the Penguins’ 2024 first-round draft pick, Mikael Granlund, Jan Rutta, and Mike Hoffman. The Canadiens received the Penguins’ 2025 second-round draft pick, Jeff Petry, Casey DeSmith, and Nathan Legare.

Was there a clear winner in the trade? Pittsburgh Hockey Now writer Dan Kingerski feels the Penguins were victorious.  San Jose Sharks Now writers Sheng Peng and Keegan KcNally were not that excited about the deal. The Sharks walked away with a first-round draft pick and only $1.5 million salary retention (for the next four seasons) in the deal. It feels like the Sharks came out ahead. The Penguins are going all in to win a Stanley Cup in the next season or two.

The Carolina Hurricanes were a strong player in the Karlsson sweepstakes early on. Will not getting Karlsson come back to bite the Hurricanes? Both teams will see plenty of each other in the Metro Division so time will tell.

What can Los Angeles Kings fans expect from Adrien Kempe next season? Is 40 goals the bar since he did that last season? Just eight players have scored 40 goals in back-to-back seasons in the last two seasons. Kempe can have a great season and does not need to log 40 goals to have a great season.