Former San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson. Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

Erik Karlsson trade viewed as another 'missed' opportunity for Sharks

By Mike Santa Barbara | Last updated 8/6/23

On Sunday, the San Jose Sharks finally dealt Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson, trading the star defenseman to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a three-way deal with the Montreal Canadiens.

However, after a lackluster return, Shayna Goldman of The Athletic believes the Sharks blew another chance to jump-start their rebuild.

"Now the Sharks have moved their two biggest trade pieces in Karlsson and Timo Meier with fairly underwhelming returns back," Goldman wrote. "These were the deals that should have brought back pieces to really push this rebuild along and San Jose missed the opportunity."

The Sharks acquired forwards Mikael Granlund and Mike Hoffman, defenseman Jan Rutta and Pittsburgh's protected 2024 first-round pick in exchange for Karlsson and retained 25% of the defenseman's contract.

Full trade:

To #LetsGoPens: Erik Karlsson, SJS 2026 3rd Rd Pick, Dillon Hamaliuk, Rem Pitlick

To #GoHabsGo: Jeff Petry, Casey DeSmith, Nathan Legare, PIT 2025 2nd Rd Pick

To #sjsharks: PIT 2024 1st Rd Pick, Mikael Granlund, Mike Hoffman, Jan Rutta
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) August 6, 2023

While the Sharks are sending out $10M in salary and gaining $13.7M, the move opens up cap space for the future. However, Goldman argues that return "shouldn't be enough for a game-breaking defenseman," believing Sharks general manager Mike Grier should've eaten more of Karlsson's cap to get better assets in return.

Like Goldman, Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun also criticized the deal, adding that Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas should be "chuckling about adding Karlsson to [Sidney] Crosby, [Evgeni] Malkin and [Kris] Letang."

"If I'm Mike Grier, I want to tell my fans in San Jose I got one decent piece for Erik Karlsson," Simmons Tweeted. "But what it it? A protected first-round pick? Nope. Some marginal [forward] and cap space? Nope."

While the Sharks received plenty of heat after the trade, others were more lenient. Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News said Grier "made the best of a tough situation."

Last season, Karlsson had a bounce-back campaign for the Sharks, playing in all 82 games for the first time since 2015-16 while tallying a career-high 101 points.

However, while the deal might seem like a no-brainer for the Penguins, the 33-year-old has a well-known injury history, meaning his outstanding 2022-23 may have been a mirage. Though, only time will tell.

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