Yardbarker’s Natalie Vaitas discusses the “best fits for fringe NHL Teams to complete their roster(s)” today, and I disagree with her, but I think that we need to read what she has to say:
Detroit Red Wings (39-35-8, sixth in Atlantic Division)
Missing piece: Top-four defenseman | Best fit: Erik Karlsson, Pittsburgh Penguins
The Red Wings, who missed the playoffs last season, have been quiet this offseason. GM Steve Yzerman’s biggest deals were the additions of goalie John Gibson and depth winger James Van Riemsdyk.
Unfortunately for Yzerman, many players he may have targeted were quickly off the market.
That leaves Detroit with few options to fill its top four on defense. With young stars Mo Seider and Simon Edvinsson playing heavy minutes, the addition of a puck-moving defenseman to take the load off them would greatly improve Detroit’s playoff chances.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are in the sellers’ market and would likely love to move on from Karlsson’s $10M cap hit. Luckily for Detroit, the rebuilding Penguins will want prospects and draft picks, something the Red Wings have aplenty.
If Pittsburgh is willing to pay some of Karlsson’s salary, and Detroit is willing to part with some of its future assets, this may be a perfect match.
Continued; I’m still not a fan of a slowing-down Karlsson at 35 years of age, especially given that he sometimes forgets how to play defense, but his puck-movement would certainly be an upgrade on Jeff Petry, for example, and his offensive wizardry is still there.
He’s got 2 years left on that $11.5 million cap hit contract (per PuckPedia), and that’s not ideal, even with the salary cap increasing, and the “rumors” and “insiders” alike have suggested that the Pens have no desire to eat any of that salary…
But if the Pens were willing to eat some of it, I cannot deny that Karlsson would be a tempting target, especially if the price were right in terms of compensation. The biggest problem is that he has a No-Move Clause, so he’d have to approve any trade to any team, and the Red Wings might not be the most attractive destination right now.
I think that the realities of his cap hit not being partially eaten by the Pens (if they can get away with it) and the NMC make things too difficult for a 35-year-old Karlsson to come to a rebuilding Red Wings team. But you can’t ever say “never” in the league I’ve been watching for 35 years now.
