Confirmed Trade: [MTL/PIT/SJS] Karlsson, Pitlick, Hamaliuk, SJS'26 3rd to PIT; Granlund, Hoffman, Rutta, PIT'24 1st to SJS; Petry, DeSmith, Legare, PIT'25 2nd to MTL

[Fordy]

I'm not sure we're even that optimistic. I think most of us are aware that our roster has flaws, and that balancing everything on the shoulders of four injury prone guys in their 30s has a big ol' risk factor.

But it's ambitious, it should be fun, and if it goes wrong we've already seen more cups than most fans will see in the rest of their lives. Every team crashes and burns sooner or later, not all of them get to go like this.

i’m enjoying the universe where pens fans are considered optimistic. it must be hard being a fan of another team, we think we suck, but they’re just desperate

Nah, the Pens will never truly crash and burn. Once Crosby retires the league will do everything in its power to send them another generational player (either through the draft or somehow forcing Edmonton to trade them McDavid)

inshallah

 

[HockeyF3ind]

Nah, the Pens will never truly crash and burn. Once Crosby retires the league will do everything in its power to send them another generational player (either through the draft or somehow forcing Edmonton to trade them McDavid)

They don't need to force a trade they just have to rig the draft for Pittsburg like they just did with Chicago.

 

[Sharkz4Fun]

I love the *They are going to end up like Detroit comment* , so salty, like why are we just fueling pens fans they are pretty much unchirpable at this point , all these attempts to chirp them are just making them more powerful don't you guys realise this? They have 3 cups with this core like who are you chirping boys?!? Wake up don't enable them , they are just laughing at you guys

The fans have 3 rings? No, they give money to players with 3 rings. Also, many of them live in Pennsylvania. Most laugh at them.

Jokes aside, Crosby and Malkin are two of the goats. I just think their team really does suck now and I don't want to see Karlsson win a cup. Dude is a POS.

 

[OtherThingsILike]

Nah, the Pens will never truly crash and burn. Once Crosby retires the league will do everything in its power to send them another generational player (either through the draft or somehow forcing Edmonton to trade them McDavid)

I love your optimism.

 

[Mattb124]

Less time in our end when we get the puck back, but more time spent in the zone getting the puck back, since he can't defend

Karlsson was 3rd in take-away’s amongst D last year. He is pretty good at getting the puck back.

 

[tom_servo]

Too old? Imagine the boners if one of your teams received Crosby, Malkin, or Letang in a trade.

 

[gach]

Too old? Imagine the boners if one of your teams received Crosby, Malkin, or Letang in a trade.

No thankyou

 

[Church Hill]

This trade, and any trade for an Erik Karlsson, would likely never have happened if not for his sudden historic Norris performance. I think that reflects well on his motivation to compete and win, so I think both the Penguins and Sharks got lucky that he became impressively relevant again.

 

[Prairie Habs]

This trade, and any trade for an Erik Karlsson, would likely never have happened if not for his sudden historic Norris performance. I think that reflects well on his motivation to compete and win, so I think both the Penguins and Sharks got lucky that he became impressively relevant again.

How lucky is it to buy a player after a value spike? I understand your point is if he had played last season like he had the previous 3 then the Penguins wouldn't have had any interest, but I don't think that makes the case to trade for him any stronger.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I'm not sure we're even that optimistic. I think most of us are aware that our roster has flaws, and that balancing everything on the shoulders of four injury prone guys in their 30s has a big ol' risk factor.

But it's ambitious, it should be fun, and if it goes wrong we've already seen more cups than most fans will see in the rest of their lives. Every team crashes and burns sooner or later, not all of them get to go like this.

Yeah, for me it's not about "OMG we're a Cup favorite now!" and more about "maybe now the games will actually be fun to watch again after last year's slog".

I don't have any notions that Karlsson has now turned the Pens into one of the top teams in the league. But I hope his ability with the puck will at least make their games exciting to watch now.

 

[Church Hill]

How lucky is it to buy a player after a value spike? I understand your point is if he had played last season like he had the previous 3 then the Penguins wouldn't have had any interest, but I don't think that makes the case to trade for him any stronger.

The Penguins are in a situation where they missed the playoffs and their best players are aging out of their primes. They needed a big infusion of skill and production and, most importantly, the idea that they could win again. Adding some 40 point depth forwards doesn't quite have the same effect as a big name Norris winner like EK, and there's not really anyone else available that could check all those boxes. It's great timing for everyone I think.

 

[Prairie Habs]

The Penguins are in a situation where they missed the playoffs and their best players are aging out of their primes. They needed a big infusion of skill and production and, most importantly, the idea that they could win again. Adding some 40 point depth forwards doesn't quite have the same effect as a big name Norris winner like EK, and there's not really anyone else available that could check all those boxes. It's great timing for everyone I think.

And I'm saying if they think they're going to get big name Norris level play they will be disappointed.

 

[blankall]

Pittsburgh had no choice. They have to ride out Crosby and Malkin's careers, for better or worse, and try to remain competitive. The next few years may suck, not small price for three cups. Plus you never know, Crosby may still have a Stanley cup left in the tank.

 

[Church Hill]

And I'm saying if they think they're going to get big name Norris level play they will be disappointed.

I think the chance that Karlsson has the same season production-wise is 1-2%. But the chance that he has an elite #1 defenseman season is greater than 50%, and that's a solid gamble when your alternative is a slooooooow rebuild that needs to wait for Crosby and Malkin to retire to even begin.

 

[OtherThingsILike]

Yeah, for me it's not about "OMG we're a Cup favorite now!" and more about "maybe now the games will actually be fun to watch again after last year's slog".

I don't have any notions that Karlsson has now turned the Pens into one of the top teams in the league. But I hope his ability with the puck will at least make their games exciting to watch now.

And for me, it's 'At least the window isn't completely closed like it would be without this trade.'

 

[Turin]

And I'm saying if they think they're going to get big name Norris level play they will be disappointed.

Karlsson had two down years, one which was terrible, which suggests injury/conditioning related issues. He is now back to being an elite player for the last two seasons. So.. will he score 100 points? Pretty unlikely. Will he be a star defenseman? Chances are very good if he stays healthy.

 

[Prairie Habs]

View attachment 735787
Karlsson had two down years, one which was terrible, which suggests injury/conditioning related issues. He is now back to being an elite player for the last two seasons. So.. will he score 100 points? Pretty unlikely. Will he be a star defenseman? Chances are very good if he stays healthy.

Not sure what was elite about his 35 point season 2 years ago, but even in his Norris trophy season last year he lead the league in most even strength goals against by 32 at 126 against. That's all well and good when he plays for a team competing for 1st overall and his only job is to put butts in seats, but it should be more than worrying for a team that is desperate to get back to the playoffs and make some noise.

That also isn't even accounting for what type of bite into Letang's numbers Karlsson will take.

 

[Turin]

Not sure what was elite about his 35 point season 2 years ago, but even in his Norris trophy season last year he lead the league in most even strength goals against by 32 at 126 against. That's all well and good when he plays for a team competing for 1st overall and his only job is to put butts in seats, but it should be more than worrying for a team that is desperate to get back to the playoffs and make some noise.
That also isn't even accounting for what type of bite into Letang's numbers Karlsson will take.

Karlsson could be on the ice for 100 ES goals against and it wouldn’t matter so long as he was on the ice for more goals his team scored. It’s been beaten to death but at true 5 on 5 he wasn’t a negative player on a lottery Sharks team.

Also his 35 point season was in 50 games on an awful team, the results were there and trending upwards.

 

[Prairie Habs]

Karlsson could be on the ice for 100 ES goals against and it wouldn’t matter so long as he was on the ice for goals his team scored. It’s been beaten to death bit at true 5 on 5 he wasn’t a negative player on a lottery Sharks team

1) He was. Then he was on for 26 more...

2) Is this like how the Canes weren't swept?

 

[Turin]

1) He was. Then he was on for 26 more...

2) Is this like how the Canes weren't swept?

No it's like how EN goals against say nothing about how good a player is 5 on 5.

 

[WhereAreTheCookies]

Karlsson was 3rd in take-away’s amongst D last year. He is pretty good at getting the puck back.

He was also 1st in giveaways among dmen, and 5th overall. When you log as many minutes as he does, and are the primary puck carrier in transition those numbers both tend to be high. Regardless, takeaways and giveaways can be a very subjective statistic much like hits. Some arenas are more generous than others.

 

[BLONG7]

No it's like how EN goals against say nothing about how good a player is 5 on 5.

Just bad, when the game is on the line?

 

[Farmboy Patty]

Interesting thing about Karlsson and the +/- debate, with the exception of his rookie season Karlsson has made the playoffs 5 times, of those 5 seasons he was a plus player in the regular season, the other 8 seasons when his team missed the playoffs he was a minus player in the regular season. Found that interesting.

It makes sense as +/- is a team stat. Bad team performances -> expect minus points for a D playing all important minutes. It works in reverse with good teams/seasons

 

[Beau Knows]

Just bad, when the game is on the line?

If your team is one of the worst in the league, they are probably going to end up in a lot of EN situations. Karlsson ran the Sharks offense, so of course he will always be on the ice with the net empty. Empty nets tend to result in goals against...

With a large enough sample size, even great players/teams are going to have a negative goal differential with the extra attacker.

 

[ZEBROA]

Are people for real arguing if Karlsson is a good or bad player? How many bad Dmen has won the Norris.
With bad i mean a negative overall impact on your team.