The Hockey News Archive The Hockey News Archive Pittsburgh Penguins star defenseman Erik Karlsson is ready to play his second season with the Pens. And in this feature story from THN’s Sept. 18, 2023 edition (Volume 77, Issue 3), contributing writer Shelly Anderson put together a deep-dive look at the 34-year-old Karlsson as he prepared to play his first year with Pittsburgh. (And this is our regular reminder: to gain access to THN’s exclusive archive, visit http://THN.com/Free and subscribe to our magazine.) Before the deal that sent him from San Jose to Pittsburgh last summer, Karlsson was coming off his third Norris Trophy win as the NHL’s best blueliner.
But more importantly, he was at a place in his life where he was happy to just be a player, even if it was on the sad-sack Sharks. “I found a joy in the game again,” Karlsson told Anderson. “First off, I’ve been healthy for a longer period of time now. I think that that really showed, and it made me feel better about myself in a lot of different ways. My personal life and my kids and my family are in a good place, kind of settled. I just feel like I’m in a really good spot in my life right now. I had a lot of fun playing hockey last year and coming to the rink every day, even though it wasn’t under the easiest of circumstances and we didn’t win very many games.” Karlsson will still be a major component of Pittsburgh’s plan to win this season. But he’s also happy to discover all the things that make the Penguins’ home so special.
“I think what surprised me the most is how green it is here, and how hilly it is, which I think is beautiful,” Karlsson said of Pittsburgh. “So that was a pleasant surprise that I did not know before. It’s been a lot of pleasant surprises coming in here and seeing it from a different view and with a different perspective than just coming in and out, going to the visiting locker room and the bus and the airport.” PEAK PITT By Shelly Anderson Beyond Primanti Bros. sandwiches loaded with fries and slaw, and the rivers with all those bridges, if you want to introduce someone to the real Pittsburgh, where people live and work, take them out on some of the steep streets. In a stick-shift vehicle. In winter. People who just visit occasionally for business trips might not get the true flavor of the city. People like new Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson.
The keystone of the biggest blockbuster trade of the 2023 NHL off-season, Karlsson had been to Pittsburgh many times as a visiting player. He had even used a little downtime during those trips to go to a Pirates baseball game at picturesque PNC Park and play golf a couple times at the storied Oakmont Country Club. Still, he saw Pittsburgh through fresh eyes after he arrived for an orientation of sorts in August, a few days after he came over to the Penguins from San Jose as part of a three-team deal. “It’s very different,” Karlsson said. “Over the course of the years, I’ve come to understand that just because you go and visit a city as a visiting player, it doesn’t mean that that’s what the city is like. “I think what surprised me the most is how green it is here, and how hilly it is, which I think is beautiful. So that was a pleasant surprise that I did not know before. It’s been a lot of pleasant surprises coming in here and seeing it from a different view and with a different perspective than just coming in and out, going to the visiting locker room and the bus and the airport.” As for his new team, Karlsson, 33, already had a long-established perspective as an opponent with the Sharks and Ottawa Senators – one that combines conventional thinking with a view that reveals exactly who he believes personifies the Penguins.
Like many others, Karlsson thinks of Pittsburgh as a marquee franchise, a place where Stanley Cups are won and being a contender is common. “I’ve played against Pittsburgh many times, and lost to them (in the playoffs) a few times when they went on to win the ultimate prize,” he said. “That’s something they know how to do here, and the players that they’ve had for a long time are still really good players. I’m really excited to step into that group and learn a lot of things, and then, hopefully, at the same time bring some new things and help them become even better, because I think that’s what you have to do within a group is to help each other out and push each other. And I feel like from the whole organization here and this team, that’s something they’ve been very good at for a very long time. And I feel like that’s something that they still have in them. I’m really excited to be a part of that.” The thing is, there has been widespread turnover top to bottom in the Penguins’ organization in recent seasons. Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux sold all but a sniff of the club to Fenway Sports Group.
Upper management has been revamped. The roster has evolved significantly since the last Cup in 2017. Which means, when Karlsson thinks of the Penguins, the image he has would seem to be of the three core players who have been part of the club for all three Cups in the salary-cap era – centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang – plus perhaps coach Mike Sullivan, who helmed the club to Cups in 2016 and 2017. Now, Karlsson, the reigning and three-time Norris Trophy winner who has four years left on his contract, instantly becomes one of those highest-echelon Penguins. As well, he’s in the camp that believes Crosby, 36, Malkin, 37, and Letang, 36, still have enough in the tank to make another run or three at the Cup. The Penguins believe that, too, despite missing the playoffs last season after four opening-round losses, as first-year president of hockey operations and GM Kyle Dubas explained when asked what message the acquisition of Karlsson sends. “It’s just the affirmation that we believe they have a chance to contend and compete for a championship,” Dubas said. “If we have a chance to add (Karlsson), we’re going to do it because we believe in this group.” Karlsson, a supreme puck-moving defenseman, has the credentials to stand with the Penguins’ big three.
And not just from years ago. Playing all 82 games, he had 101 points on one of the worst teams in the league last season, the first NHL blueliner to hit triple digits in 30 years. Something else happened last season, too. “I found a joy in the game again,” Karlsson said. “First off, I’ve been healthy for a longer period of time now. I think that that really showed, and it made me feel better about myself in a lot of different ways. My personal life and my kids and my family are in a good place, kind of settled. I just feel like I’m in a really good spot in my life right now. I had a lot of fun playing hockey last year and coming to the rink every day, even though it wasn’t under the easiest of circumstances and we didn’t win very many games.” Karlsson appears to be a perfect fit for Sullivan’s style.
He might well have been channelling his new coach when he said, “In my opinion, the team that controls the puck the most and has the puck the most is usually the team that’s going to do the best. It’s something I always try to be good at, and I’m still trying to evolve. I like playing with the puck. That’s how we started out playing the game, and that’s how I’m hoping I get to play the game for the rest of my career.” Karlsson will have to find a specific spot with the Penguins, who already have Letang. Both are fleet-footed, offense-minded, right-side defensemen. If you’re game enough, you could try to assign a No. 1 and No. 2 designation to them. When things settle, it seems likely one will be paired with another newcomer, Ryan Graves, and the other with Marcus Pettersson. And Karlsson could take over the quarterback responsibilities on the top power-play unit. Dubas, who spoke with Letang during the pursuit of the Karlsson deal, expects no bruised egos. “I’m never looking for approval, (but) in Kris’ spot, (we said), ‘This is what we’re thinking, Kris. Here’s how we see it working.’ So we have an idea for where he’s at,” Dubas said.
“Unsurprisingly with Kris, it was very clearly (about) whatever’s going to make us better and help us win.” Karlsson dismissed reports there was animosity between him and fellow elite D-man Brent Burns in San Jose – “I don’t think we had a strained relationship. We’re actually pretty good friends, personally,” he said – and he predicted that he’ll dovetail nicely with the Penguins stars. “I don’t foresee it to be any issue coming in here where you have a lot of strong players that have been here for a long time and had extreme success,” Karlsson said. “I’m excited to be able to work alongside guys like that.” Karlsson and Letang are capable of big minutes.
They were among the NHL leaders last season, averaging 25:37 and 24:51 of ice time. “It allows us to have one of those two players on the ice for at least 50 minutes of the game,” Dubas said. “Hopefully, a little bit less.” It’s worth noting he let out a slight nervous laugh after saying that out loud. Karlsson is the biggest Penguins acquisition since they snagged winger Phil Kessel from Toronto in the summer of 2015. Kessel became a significant cog in winning the Cup the next two springs. Like Karlsson is expected to be, Kessel was a perfect fit with his speed, shot and power-play prowess. But Kessel also brought perceived baggage in terms of work ethic and personality. That proved to be inconsequential, as Kessel quickly became a favorite in the dressing room and on the streets of Pittsburgh. Before a single training-camp skate, Karlsson, perhaps unwittingly, made inroads with Pens fans, not only with that triple-digit point total and Norris Trophy resume, but also with his complimentary comments about his impressions of the city. Call it beautiful, embrace those hills, and Pittsburghers will greet you with arms open wide.