Trade completed between the Penguins and the Canadiens one year ago
It was just over a year ago when the San Jose Sharks traded Erik Karlsson, giving us plenty of time to assess how all three teams involved in the deal made out.
For a player of his caliber, it is a bit unusual that Erik Karlsson has been traded twice, but that is good for the NHL as these blockbuster trades always create a lot of excitement.
Karlsson is a three-time Norris winner as best defenseman of the year, and has 817 career points, including 189 goals in 1002 career regular-season games. However, he was on one of the worst teams in the league in the San Jose Sharks, which made a trade practically inevitable.
That trade came a year ago, giving us time to look back and see how it has aged so far.
The Hockey News writer Kelsey Surmacz recently shared her opinion on the trade recently, seemingly siding with the Sharks, noting that they actually got positive production from the players they got in the deal.
Of course, the Penguins also got a good player in Karlsson, but his 56 points is a far cry from the 101 he had with the Sharks the previous season.
Of course, Karlsson made the Penguins a little bit better, but he was one guy, while San Jose had three players who all played more than 60 games and helped keep the team from embarrassing itself every night."
Karlsson had just 56 points in his first year with the Penguins, nearly a 50% drop off in his production from his third Norris-winning season. Certainly, the Penguins were hoping for more than that from him.
Furthermore, the team missed the playoffs, which was the ultimate goal when Kyle Dubas made the move. Now it looks even worse in hindsight as the team appears poised for a lengthy rebuild process.
For the Sharks, they moved a huge contract without committing to major salary retention. They also got a solid asset in a 1st round pick, which turned out to be 14th overall. Then they flipped that pick to Buffalo for 11th overall which was used to select Sam Dickinson, who is now their best defenseman prospect.
They also still have Mikael Granlund, who was the team's best forward last season. The team could potentially flip him at the deadline next season, but they will not be able to retain salary on his 6 million dollar cap hit, likely limiting the return they could get.
From the Canadiens perspective, the rebuilding team got a 2nd round pick in the original deal. Then they flipped Jeff Petry to the Detroit Red Wings, getting a 4th round pick to add to their haul. They also traded goaltender Casey DeSmith for a 3rd round pick from the Vancouver Canucks.
Combined, those three picks won't match the value the Sharks got, but that is still very good asset management from Kent Hughes, considering they were the 3rd team in the original three-way trade. When all is said in done, it seems as though both the Sharks and Habs did well in this deal, but Kyle Dubas may be regretting the move in the years to come.
Source: HabsFanatics
Trade completed between the Habs and Pens: Hughes creates 3 picks
Source: HockeyReference
Erik Karlsson Career Statistics
| POLL | ||
Which team between the Canadiens, Sharks, and Penguins do you think did the best in this trade? | ||
| Penguins | 28 | 16.9 % |
| Sharks | 51 | 30.7 % |
| Canadiens | 51 | 30.7 % |
| None | 36 | 21.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
