Years of rumors and speculation have finally culminated– again. The Pittsburgh Penguins executed a three-way trade with the San Jose Sharks and Montreal Canadiens to acquire reigning Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson.
This summer has seen lots of defensemen on the move, particularly within the Metro division. The trade is as follows:
Montreal Canadiens receive
- RD Jeff Petry (Pittsburgh retains 25%)
- G Casey DeSmith
- RW Nathan Legare
- 2025 2nd round pick (from Pittsburgh)
Pittsburgh Penguins receive
- RD Erik Karlsson (San Jose retains 13%)
- LW Rem Pitlick
- LW Dillon Hamaliuk
- 2026 3rd round pick (from San Jose)
San Jose Sharks receive
- C Mikael Granlund
- RW Mike Hoffman
- RD Jan Rutta
- Conditional 2024 1st round pick (from Pittsburgh, Top 10 protected)
What Montreal gets from this trade
The Canadiens get Jeff Petry back after trading him to Pittsburgh just north of a year ago. The Canadiens likely will not sniff the playoffs for the remaining two years on Jeff Petry’s contract. He is also not what he was during the pandemic, much less when they first got him.
Casey DeSmith is a career backup goalie who is a significant upgrade over Sam Montembeault, but is not a starter at the NHL level. Nathan Legare is a winger who has failed to get 20 points in the American Hockey League (AHL).
What Pittsburgh gets from this trade
Erik Karlsson is “the best defense is a good offense” taken to the extreme. Last season, the 33-year-old Karlsson had more points last season than Brayden Point, Mitch Marner, new teammate Sidney Crosby, Jack Hughes, and Artemi Panarin just to name a few. Conversely, he has refused to play defense for a very long time.
Rem Pitlick is a fringe winger who had an otherworldly shooting percentage in 2021-22 when Montreal first acquired him but reverted to 13th forward status. Dillon Hamaliuk spent time between the AHL and the ECHL.
What San Jose gets from this trade
San Jose more likely than not gets Pittsburgh’s first-round pick this year. The Penguins are good enough that they would need everything to go wrong to not get 90 points. Mikael Granlund and Jan Rutta are two players with contracts that would be nigh unmovable– but when a team wants to trade an $11.5 million player, that changes. Lastly, they get Mike Hoffman from Montreal. Perhaps this time Hoffman stays in San Jose longer than two hours.
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