Pittsburgh Penguins: Erik Karlsson Needs To Perform Better In 2024-2025

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The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired defenseman Erik Karlsson in a trade from the San Jose Sharks last offseason. Karlsson is one of the most polarizing defensemen in the entire NHL. A season ago with the Penguins, he played in all 82 games with the team. Erik Karlsson scored 11 goals and recorded 45 assists. His plus/minus rating was +4. In the previous season with the San Jose Sharks, he recorded 101 points. It was the best that he ever played in his career.

Must Perform Better This Season

There is no doubt that Erik Karlsson needs to perform much better during the 2024-2025 season for the Penguins if they want to make the playoffs. Karlsson made too many defensive mistakes last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Having him on the roster is like having another version of Kris Letang. They are both talented right-handed defensemen, but they make many mistakes on defense. The most consistent defenseman on the roster last season was Marcus Pettersson.

Karlsson is 34 years old. One of the reasons why the Penguins traded for him last off-season is because they wanted another playmaker on the backend to help this hockey team. For a defenseman, he had good numbers last year. However, because of what he has accomplished in his career so far, Erik Karlsson could have been better for the Pittsburgh Penguins. If Karlsson does not perform better this season for Pittsburgh, many will wonder how this trade didn’t work out for them.

They did not have a first-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. The pick was top 10 protected and it did not land in the Top 10, so it automatically went to the San Jose Sharks. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if it was a Top 10 pick last season. Would Kyle Dubas have kept the pick or would he have given it to San Jose anyway? They are a hockey team that is rebuilding and thinking long-term. The San Jose Sharks are years away, but Mack Cellebrini was the number one overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft from Boston College. He received advice from Sidney Crosby lately.

Not only will it be a big year for Karlsson and Crosby, but it will be for Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin as well. This is going to be a big test for the Penguins blueline this season. Erik Karlsson will receive either a lot of praise or a lot of heat from the fanbase this season. Karlsson will need to be on the first or second pairing of defense. He could be also an important piece on the Pittsburgh Penguins power play this season. It would be a huge blow to them if he got injured at some point.

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Article originally written by Glenn Kaplan.