The Pittsburgh Penguins are shopping star defenseman Erik Karlsson, and the Detroit Red Wings could be a potential landing spot.
The Red Wings could use an upgrade on the blue line, and Karlsson would be a good mentor for Moritz Seider as well. With that, NHL insider Adam Gretz of Bleacher Report shared a potential trade between the Red Wings and Penguins for Karlsson.
Red Wings acquire:
Penguins acquire:
- Carter Mazur
- 2027 first-round pick
Detroit would be going all-in on the season, but they would keep their 2026 first-round pick, which many teams don’t want to trade in case they win the lottery and can take Gavin McKenna.
The Red Wings would acquire Karlsson, who has two years left on his eight-year, $92 million deal with the Penguins. Although it is a hefty salary, Detroit has the cap space to make the move happen.
Karlsson would be a top-four defenseman for the Red Wings and add some more offense to the backend. The Swede recorded 11 goals and 42 assists for 53 points in 82 games last season. But, just two years prior, he had 101 points. He’s also a three-time Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s best defenseman.
In return, Detroit would give up a first-round pick and a top prospect. Mazur was selected 70th overall in 2021, and the left winger should push for NHL minutes this season. He appeared in 1 game last season with the Red Wings. In the AHL, he recorded 8 goals and 7 assists for 15 points in 20 games.
Insider Shares Reason Behind Red Wings-Penguins Deal
If the trade does happen, it would be a blockbuster, and he believes it makes a ton of sense.
Gretz believes the Red Wings need to be aggressive in hopes of ending their nine-year playoff drought.
“There should be more urgency and desperation coming from the Red Wings this offseason. The playoff drought is closing in on a decade,” Gretz wrote. “They’ve had a slow and methodical process under Steve Yzerman’s watch, they still have more than $12 million in salary-cap space and their current right-shot defenseman are Moritz Seider (very good) and …. Justin Holl. That’s not great. It’s certainly not good enough. Something has to give here.
“The cap space is there, the need is there. They have the trade assets. They just need the urgency and desire to actually want to try to get better,” Gretz added. “After missing out on nearly every major free agent, they will have to dip into the trade market to improve. This would be a big improvement, even if Karlsson has some flaws. He wouldn’t be required to be the top-defense option (that is Seider’s job) and could really add some much-needed offensive spark to a relatively punchless defense.”
The Red Wings, as Gretz notes, have over $12 million in cap space and plenty of prospects and draft picks to make a trade happen. Karlsson also wouldn’t have to be the No. 1 defenseman, which could help him out as he wouldn’t have a ton of responsibility.
Red Wings GM Believes Team Needs Another Top Defenseman
Karlsson would fill a major need for Detroit as he’d be a top-four defenseman, which is a need.
The Red Wings only made one move to their blue line this offseason, signing Jacob Bernard-Docker, who’s a sixth or seventh defenseman in the NHL.
With that, Red Wings’ general manager Steve Yzerman says adding a top-four defenseman is the team’s biggest need.
“We have plenty of cap space to do a lot of different things,” Yzerman said. “The most important thing is to find players that fit. What we could use right now is a defenseman, a top four, and preferably a right shot. But it doesn’t have to be a right shot because we can move these guys around a little bit, but that would be our biggest potential need.”
Karlsson would fit the Red Wings perfectly as he’d be the top-four defenseman the team is missing.
Insider Shares Potential Red Wings Trade Package for Star $92M Defenseman