Erik Karlsson's Preferred Destination is Now Known
Erik Karlsson is the hottest commodity on the trade block and his preferred location is known.
Karlsson Prefers Pittsburgh
Erik Karlsson is coming off of a historic season that saw him score 101 points as a defenseman and saw him winning the Norris Trophy for the third time in his career.
The Sharks and Karlsson are reportedly looking at a fresh start. With that, Karlsson has garnered much interest. However, teams have balked at the price but it is currently down to two rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Carolina Hurricanes.
It has been revealed which team is Karlsson's preferred destination.
Why Pittsburgh?
Pittsburgh being the preferred destination makes a lot of sense. It is a more historic team than Carolina, it has better offensive stars in Crosby and Malkin, and it does not have a defensive backlog.
Carolina has Brent Burns who played very well for them but when he and Karlsson were on the Sharks together, both saw a dip in production. This too many cooks in the kitchen concept most likely adds to his hesitancy to go to Carolina.
However, Carolina is the better team and if they were to acquire Karlsson, they would be pushed well over their hump and we could expect them to contend for a cup. Karlsson would be joining notable defenseman Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei, Dmitry Orlov, and Burns in Carolina for arguably one of the best defensive cores in NHL history.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 11 | 390 ANSWERS Erik Karlsson's Preferred Destination is Now Known Where would you prefer to play? | ||
| Carolina | 112 | 28.7 % |
| Pittsburgh | 198 | 50.8 % |
| San Jose | 80 | 20.5 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Michael Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Drew Helleson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nino Niederreiter | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Vilardi | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Evgeni Malkin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Morrissey | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bryan Rust | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Trevor Zegras | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Noel Acciari | - | - | - | |
| Mason Appleton | - | - | - | |
| Nicolas Aube-Kubel | - | - | - | |
| Morgan Barron | - | - | - | |
| Anthony Beauvillier | - | - | - | |
| Zach Benson | - | - | - | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||