Assessing the best fantasy outcome for an Erik Karlsson trade

In case you missed it, in an interview with Expressen hockey reporter Adam Johansson last week, Erik Karlsson disclosed that he has spoken to Pittsburgh, Seattle, Carolina, and Toronto, among other teams, this summer.

The reigning Norris Trophy winner, who’s coming off a campaign where he became the first blueliner since 1992 to hit the 100-point plateau, has been very open in stating that would like to be traded by the San Jose Sharks.

From a fantasy perspective, it will be tough for the 33-year-old to replicate what he did in 2022-23. That said, there’s no question some teams are better fits than others.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

If Karlsson ends up in Pittsburgh, who many perceive to be the frontrunner right now, it will be the Brent Bruns situation all over again —this time with Kris Letang. In four seasons together in San Jose, Karlsson and Burns, who are both No. 1 power play quarterbacks, never really got in sequence together offensively. Indisputably, a potential Karlsson-Letang combo on paper sounds lethal, but how would it play out in terms of ice time and PP deployment? There’s no question both players would likely see a dip in fantasy stock.

CAROLINA HURRICANES

With Tony DeAngelo landing back in Carolina, it’s fair to wonder what that means for a potential fit between Karlsson and the Hurricanes. Nevertheless, there’s no question Karlsson would be in tough for playing time on Carolina’s stacked blue line. On top of that, from Burns to DeAngelo to Jaccob Slavin to Dmitry Orlov, the Canes possess a bevy of D options to run out there on the power play. Additionally, Rod Brind’Amour loves to spread the wealth across his two power play units. Unfortunately, there’s only one puck to go around.

SEATTLE KRAKEN

Very cheekily, Seattle would be a solid landing spot for Karlsson. It would be tough news for the freshly signed Vince Dunn, however. Flying almost completely under the radar this past season, the Kraken scored the fourth most goals in the NHL (289). Furthermore, Karlsson would offer a significant boost to their power play, one that ranked 21^st (19.8%) amongst the league’s 32 teams in 2022-23.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Imagine Erik Karlsson snapping it around on Toronto’s first power play unit with the big boys? Well, it’s unlikely, but it does somehow come to fruition, obviously, it would be tough news for Morgan Rielly owners. For several years now, outside of Rielly, the Leafs have really lacked puck moving presence on the back end. Karlsson would certainly change that.