Erik Karlsson's Preferred Trade Destination Revealed

Recent reports have revealed that only two teams are in the Erik Karlsson race. Those are the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes, two Metropolitan division rivals.

Karlsson knows that these are his most likely destinations and it has been revealed that he prefers Pittsburgh over Carolina.

Pittsburgh seems like a good fit for Karlsson considering the space they have on the blue line and who they could trade away to acquire Karlsson.

Karlsson to Carolina would simply be too much. They already have Jaccob Slavin, Brent Burns, Brady Skjei, Brett Pesce, and Dmitry Orlov. Each one of those players has played or could play top-pairing minutes.

This could be a too many cooks in the kitchen situation and could mean that Karlsson could not get the minutes he desires.

In addition to this, when Karlsson and Burns played together in San Jose both saw a dip in their production.

Last season Karlsson had 101 points and Burns had 61 points. A season prior, when both were playing together, Karlsson posted 35 points in 50 games and Burns had 44 points.

It is clear that both of them are top pairing defenseman who need a defensively responsible partner but if Carolina can provide that, there is no reason that Karlsson and Burns cannot replicate their 2022-23 season in Carolina's system which sees the offense come through the defense.

As seen on Hockey Patrol - Erik Karlsson's Preferred NHL Team Has Been Revealed