Erik Karlsson was fantastic during the 2025-26 season. What does he have in store for the 2026-27 season?
It's hard to believe, but Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson is already going into his fourth season with the team.
The Penguins acquired Karlsson during the 2023 offseason to try and give the core three of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang one last big push to contention during the 2023-24 season, but missed the playoffs.
Despite missing the playoffs that season, the trade wasn't anything close to a failure. The Penguins got out of some contracts that they needed to get out of and even saved money in the deal.
His first two seasons with the Penguins featured some ups and downs, but I still maintain that he wasn't nearly as bad as his detractors claimed.
Heck, he finished tied for fifth among all defensemen in 5v5 points during the 2024-25 season with 33. The only defensemen to finish the season with more 5v5 points were Quinn Hughes, Rasmus Dahlin, Cale Makar, and Zach Werenski.
The Penguins were also positive in shot attempts, expected-goal share, and scoring-chance share when Karlsson was on the ice at 5v5. He did all of that on a Penguins team that was virtually out of the playoff race by the 2025 trade deadline.
Karlsson came into the 2025-26 season with even more to prove and accomplished that tenfold. Head coach Dan Muse allowed him more freedom at the blue line and also got him to stop doing a lot of those "30/70" pinches that he'd often do under former head coach Mike Sullivan.
He was a lot more responsible and formed a great partnership with Parker Wotherspoon on the top pair. If Karlsson did have one of his occasional screwups, Wotherspoon was often back to cover for him.
Muse and Co. had Karlsson be more decisive on the power play, which helped the unit finish sixth in the NHL. 26 of his 66 points came on the man-advantage, which was an 11-point difference from his PP production during the 2024-25 season.
Muse also had Karlsson spend 140:16 on the penalty kill last season, and it worked great. He was quick to loose pucks, especially those behind the net, and was good at clearing the zone. It helps that Karlsson has been a solid penalty killer throughout his career, but for whatever reason, Sullivan didn't want him on that unit as much.
Karlsson was the Penguins' MVP last season and a major reason they ended their brief playoff drought. He was arguably the best defenseman in the world in March, which was the toughest part of the schedule.
The Penguins were playing playoff team after playoff team, and Karlsson stepped up in a major way. He finished the month with nine multi-point games, nine goals, and 24 points in 17 games. It was vintage Karlsson through and through.
I predicted Karlsson to notch 70 points last year, and he finished the season only four points off that mark. There's a very realistic chance he hits that number this year since he has fit in beautifully under the new coaching staff.
Yes, he'll have a new defensive partner on the top pair since Parker Wotherspoon was traded during the offseason, but he should be able to make it work, especially if it's with Trevor van Riemsdyk. TVR is still good defensively and will allow Karlsson to do his thing in the offensive zone.
Karlsson will still get to quarterback the top power-play unit, which should come as no surprise, since he's had that duty since the Penguins acquired him. He'll get a solid amount of production on that unit, especially after the way he fit in on it last season.
This could very well be Karlsson's final season as a Penguin since his contract expires at the end of the year. With that said, I expect him to be very productive as the Penguins try to return to the playoffs for a second season in a row.
(Data via Natural Stat Trick and MoneyPuck).
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