Much of the conjecture around the Pittsburgh Penguins has changed over the course of the 2025-26 season, as the team's playoff-hopeful performance has shifted them from sure sellers trying to collect every possible asset to a team that is, perhaps, beginning to come out of the lowest point of their rebuild.
And because the song has changed around the Penguins, so, too, has it changed around three-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson.
Karlsson, 35, is in the midst of what may be his best all-around season since his days with the Ottawa Senators. He has seven goals and 19 points in 14 games since Feb. 28 - a top-five production mark in the NHL during that time - and he has drastically improved the defensive side of his game this season, including his contributions to a penalty kill unit that is top-three in the league.
And it looks like he has gone from a potential trade chip to an intergral part of the Penguins' blue line that they're not quite looking to part with.
According to NHL Insider Pierre LeBrun, Penguins' general manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas doesn't have much interest in selling off Karlsson for assets this summer.
“There will be serious interest in Erik Karlsson this summer,” LeBrun said on TSN's Early Trading. “Having said that, I will tell you that I chatted with Penguins' GM Kyle Dubas, who is not happy to have Karlsson’s name out there in terms of trade chatter. He is adamant that Karlsson has been such a great player for them this year that he views Karlsson as a guy that they will continue to want to retool and put young players around, that he doesn’t see himself wanting to trade him this summer.
“He wanted to be clear about that with me and to spread the word, I guess, that he doesn’t view Erik Karlsson as a trade chip this summer.”
The Penguins originally acquired Karlsson in the summer of 2023 after his 29-goal, 101-point Norris campaign with the San Jose Sharks. He is owed $11.5 million AAV - $10 million of it from Pittsburgh - for one more season.
It's hard to deny that Karlsson is - by far - having his best season in Pittsburgh this year, so it will be interesting to see how the Penguins plan to build out their team over the summer to remain competitive around Karlsson and Sidney Crosby next season. They are currently third in the Metropolitan Division with 11 games remaining in the 2025-26 season.
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