ESPN believes newcomer Erik Karlsson can break a typical trend for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Since the 2005-06 season, only two players have led the Pittsburgh Penguins in points in a single season.

The Penguins have always been led in scoring by either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin since they broke into the NHL in the mid to late 2000s.

Jake Guentzel snuck in and tied Crosby with 84 points in 2021-22, but that is the only exception to this trend since the NHL lockout.

After an offseason full of change and turnover in Pittsburgh, could there be a new name to add to a very short list?

According to ESPN, they project new defenseman Erik Karlsson to lead the Penguins in points with 97 (23G-74A) in 81 games played.

Judging by the rest of ESPN’s projections, they based a lot of their numbers off of how last season went for many of the NHL’s top players.

Karlsson recorded 101 points between 25 goals and 76 assists in a full 82 games in 2022-23 to capture his third Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman.

While thinking Karlsson will only play one fewer games, ESPN just knocked off a couple of goals and assists and came to their conclusion.

For comparison, Connor McDavid is coming off of a monster season that saw him post 64 goals and 89 assists for 153 points.

ESPN plots McDavid to basically repeat that astronomical pace with 61 goals and 87 assists for 148 total points.

The Penguins have long been led by Crosby or Malkin, and even with Karlsson added to the lineup, that trend likely won’t be broken.

Only five defensemen have ever reached 100 points in a single season and only one more has touched 97 (Phil Housley in 1992-93).

ESPN seems to think that Karlsson is set to have yet another historic season; that would be top notch and a huge boost for the Penguins, but highly unlikely.

For those curious, ESPN predicts Crosby to record 32 goals and 57 assists for 89 points and Malkin to hit 24 goals and 44 assists for 68 points.

Guentzel is also noted as the goals leader for the Penguins with 34, two fewer than last season.

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