It has been a rather humiliating decline since the spring of 2017.
And a drop that has been punctuated by several seismic events.
A change in ownership.
An awkward divorce from Matt Murray.
A massive Erik Karlsson trade.
And a polarizing general manager who was finally shown the door in 2023.
That’s a perfect description for the Pittsburgh Penguins. It’s also the exact same story arc for the Ottawa Senators.
Since meeting in the 2017 Eastern Conference final, both teams have fallen off a cliff. The Senators immediately plunged to the bottom of the standings by undertaking an aggressive rebuild. The Penguins’ decline has been more gradual, but they are now in danger of missing the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time in the salary cap era. Pittsburgh hasn’t won a playoff series in six years.
The fan bases for both franchises are growing tired and impatient. But maybe there is a mutual solution that can reinvigorate both franchises.
The idea of trading Karlsson from Pittsburgh to Ottawa was first floated by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman a couple of weeks ago. As Friedman wrote, “I can’t help but wonder if the Senators consider a Karlsson reunion. At least, brainstorm it. Yes, it’s complicated and yes, everyone would have to be on board.”
The rumors even reached the ears of Karlsson himself a few days ago, when he was asked directly about the idea of him returning to Ottawa.
“That’s Canada for you. I played there for a long time so I kind of know how that game works,” Karlsson told reporters late last week in Pittsburgh. “They’ve got a lot of things to talk about every day because they’ve got a lot of air time. But very few things to actually discuss. They like to make up these what-if scenarios. That’s just the way it is, and it’s not something that I really look into or worry too much about.”
So this week, The Athletic’s Penguins writer Josh Yohe and Senators writer Ian Mendes dive in to explore the idea of a blockbuster trade involving the teams.
Would the Penguins consider moving on from Karlsson?
I do believe the Penguins would consider moving on from Karlsson. It’s not that they don’t recognize his genius on the ice and they assuredly do not regret last summer’s trade with San Jose. Far from it. They removed considerable dead weight from their lineup and made their roster better. It just hasn’t worked.
The fact of the matter is, the Penguins have too many players in their 30s who are making millions of dollars. While Karlsson remains a great player and is hardly what ails the Penguins, he’s probably not who they really need right now. To remove themselves from his considerable salary is something, I suspect, that Kyle Dubas would be open to discussing.
In Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins have two aging stars who also possess no-movement clauses. Sidney Crosby has one year left on his deal but the Penguins are very much invested in him being their captain until the day he hangs up his skates. If Karlsson were willing to return to Ottawa and if the Senators would like to bring him back, I feel confident that Dubas would listen. There is no reason to believe that Karlsson is untouchable and, as great as he still is, he has been largely underwhelming this season. He has two goals in his past 46 games. It could be argued that such a move would be in everyone’s best interests. — Yohe
Would it make sense for Ottawa to acquire Karlsson?
Let’s start with establishing a few things we know to be true.
Karlsson really enjoys living in the city of Ottawa. He spends his summers there. His wife is from there. Convincing him to waive his no-movement clause to return to Ottawa shouldn’t be viewed as a major obstacle.
Karlsson has enormous respect for Daniel Alfredsson. The Senators assistant coach remains a…
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