Team: 2023-24 Pittsburgh Penguins

Initial Creation Date: Jul. 14, 2023

Published: Jul. 14, 2023

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

San Jose Receives:
Owen Pickering
2024 1st Round Pick - PIT
Mikael Granlund
Joel Blomqvist
Ben Chiarot
25% Salary Retention on Karlsson - 2.875M

Pittsburgh Receives:
Erik Karlsson with 45% salary retention - 6.325M Cap Hit
Oscar Lindblom

Detroit Receives:
Jeff Petry
2025 2nd Round Pick - PIT
2026 2nd Round Pick - PIT
20% Salary Retention on Karlsson - 2.3M


Pittsburgh pays the most but gets the best player in the deal. Karlsson at almost the same cap hit as Petry, who Pens fans consistently want to get rid of. They also dump Granlund's two year contract at 5M but have to eat Lindblom's 2.5M for one year. This deal also allows them to get cap compliant. Pittsburgh gives up a bunch of futures but adding Karlsson would really make them a cup contender again. His contract fits the Pens timeline with the rest of the core. Pretty much once their deals are up this team likely enters a full rebuild. Karlsson paired with a steady defensive guy like Pettersson I think would work good.

Detroit side of the deal they get a bit of an upgrade from Chiarot in Petry and also get a righty instead of playing a lefty on their off hand. Although they were taking a more expensive contract and adding retention, they get a little extra cap freedom in what would have been Chiarot's last year but take a small hit the year after. The retention is only 700K than the buyout for Chiarot would be if we bought out the last year of his deal. I opted for future picks so Pittsburgh could still have some picks this next draft and so that they could be potentially used in trades for Detroit when we are more competitive.

San Jose gets all futures with the exception for two cap dumps. Pickering, a recent first round pick, a first this year and a pretty decent goalie prospect. Granlund, who I feel isn't as awful as people think, can help insulate some of the younger players San Jose will be looking to get into the line up soon. He can play centre but I feel he is better suited in the wing. Chiarot can fill a void left by Karlsson for a few years and provides some toughness to help protect the young players. I actually feel he plays better on his off side than on the left as well. If the Sharks decide to keep Karlsson they will have to pay him $38M once his contract is finished plus $2.5M for Lindblom, $40.5M total in salary. In this deal they only pay $35.25M in salary saving them $5.25M in real dollars. For a team rebuilding in the market they are in, especially after the COVID years, any savings would be huge. They could even opt to buy out both of those contracts and save an additional $4.8M.

Note:
Chiarot and Petry get swapped as I would expect Petry won't waive to go to San Jose but would for Detroit.

Don't know exactly how much San Jose would retain all Grier said only 18% before. I don't think 25% is a ridiculous ask for them.

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