Karlsson goes to Penguins in 3-team trade with Sharks, Canadiens

Erik Karlsson was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday in a three-team deal involving the San Jose Sharks and Montreal Canadiens.

The 33-year-old defenseman had 101 points (25 goals, 76 assists) in 82 games with the Sharks last season, becoming the sixth defenseman in NHL history to reach 100 points in a season, and the first since Brian Leetch had 102 for the Rangers in 1991-92. Karlsson has four seasons remaining on an eight-year contract ($11.5 million average annual value) he signed with the Sharks on June 17, 2019; San Jose will retain $1.5 million of his salary annually.

"It gains us the [financial] flexibility that we wanted but also brings Erik into the mix here," Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas said. "The reason we wanted to bring Erik in was, I think, when going through our team, one of the things that I felt in talking with [coach Mike Sullivan] is that we needed to continually improve our ability to move the puck from our own zone. Erik, I think, is one of the elite players in that regard in the NHL. Even though he's in his early 30s, he continues to be one of the top skaters in the NHL. Obviously, his production and offense is prolific. Very competitive, very motivated person. Wants to come in here and help our team."

Karlsson, who won the Norris Trophy as the best defenseman in the NHL last season and was a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award as most valuable player voted by the NHL Players' Association, had a full no-move clause.

"We've been going at it for a while trying to get this done. It's been a bit of a grind," Sharks general manager Mike Grier said. "... Happy to get it done with. Having the cap flexibility and financial flexibility was really important for us moving forward. ... We want to thank Erik for his contributions in San Jose over the last four years and congratulate him on a remarkable and historic 2022-23 season."

RELATED: [2023-2024 NHL Trade Tracker | Sharks share Karlsson tribute video | Fantasy spin]

Selected by the Ottawa Senators in the first round (No. 15) of the 2008 NHL Draft, Karlsson has 761 points (178 goals, 583 assists) in 920 regular-season games for the Senators and Sharks and 53 points (eight goals, 45 assists) in 67 Stanley Cup Playoff games. A five-time Norris finalist and three-time winner (2011-12, 2014-15, 2022-23), Karlsson is also a five-time NHL First-Team All Star (2011-12, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2022-23).

Karlsson had previously said he wanted to be traded to a Stanley Cup contender. Although Pittsburgh was 40-31-11 last season and missed the playoffs, they had qualified each of the previous 16 seasons, which was the longest streak in the NHL.

San Jose received forwards Mikael Granlund and Mike Hoffman, defenseman Jan Rutta and a conditional first-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft in the trade.

"While it is always difficult to trade a player of the caliber of Erik Karlsson, this trade accomplishes several goals for our franchise," Grier said. "It adds two forwards to our roster who have proven ability to produce offensively at the NHL level, and solidifies our NHL defense corps. Additionally, acquiring another first round pick gives us the opportunity to continue fortifying our development system with high-end prospects and provides us some financial flexibility to add players as we see fit in the future."

Granlund had 42 points (10 goals, 31 assists) in 79 games with the Penguins and Nashville Predators last season, including five points (one goal, four assists) in 21 games after he was acquired by Pittsburgh in a trade on March 1.

The 31-year-old, who has 484 points (145 goals, 339 assists) in 750 regular-season games for the Penguins, Predators and Minnesota Wild, has two seasons remaining on a four-year contract ($5 million AAV) he signed with the Predators on July 28, 2021.

"You could see something was up and something was going to happen. It's just part of the business," Granlund said. "We didn't make anything special happen last season. Hopefully, I can bring something good to San Jose.

"We'll see how everything works out and where I end up, but hopefully I can give options for the coaches and for the team to be our best."

Hoffman had 34 points (14 goals, 20 assists) in 67 games with Montreal last season. The 33-year-old has 464 points (218 goals, 246 assists) in 679 regular-season games for the Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, Florida Panthers and Senators and is a six-time 20-goal scorer. He has one season remaining on a three-year contract ($4.5 million AAV) he signed with the Canadiens on July 28, 2021.

"I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to play in San Jose," Hoffman said. "... I can bring some offense and help the power play out, and bring a little veteran leadership as well. [In Montreal] I don't think I really played up to what I'm capable of doing. I really believe in myself and my game and I think that I can contribute and have a lot to bring [to the Sharks]."

Rutta, 33, had nine points (three goals, six assists) in 56 games for the Penguins last season and has 70 points (15 goals, 55 assists in 294 regular-season games for the Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks. He has two seasons remaining on a three-year contract ($2.75 million AAV) he signed with the Penguins on July 13, 2022.

"I knew that Pittsburgh really wanted to get Erik. If you do the math, they didn't have the cap to slot everybody on the team," Rutta said. "I was one of the guys who was kind of, I guess, easier to move, so I wouldn't say I was shocked that I was traded. But even if you anticipate it a little bit, when it actually happens, the first couple of minutes your head is kind of all over the place.

"I called Tomas (Hertl) right after I got to know that I was traded. He lives in Prague as I do, so sometimes we run into each other. I gave a call right away. And Radim (Simek) texted me a couple of hours later. It's nice to have Czech guys on the team, and I'm pretty excited to see them."

San Jose (22-44-16) finished 29th in the NHL standings last season and has not qualified for the postseason since 2019.

"My expectation for the group is the same as it's always been," Grier said. "(Coach David) Quinn wants to win, (Sharks Sports & Entertainment President) Hasso (Plattner) wants to win, the players want to win. So I think the expectation is that these guys come in, they compete hard and they try to win hockey games... We'll see what happens.

"The guys that we've brought in here today have proven track records of scoring goals in the league. So I think they'll be able to help our power play out a bit and help our 5-on-5game a bit. And hopefully som e guys will have bounceback seasons who didn't like their seasons last year."

Pittsburgh also received forward Rem Pitlick, forward prospect Dillon Hamaliuk and a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

Pitlick, 26, had 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 46 games with the Canadiens last season and has 54 points (21 goals, 33 assists) in 123 regular-season games for the Canadiens and Predators. He is entering the final season of a two-year contract ($1.1 million AAV) he signed with the Canadiens on July 16, 2022.

Hamaliuk, 22, was a second-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft by the Sharks and has yet to make his NHL debut.

Montreal received defenseman Jeff Petry, goalie Casey DeSmith, forward prospect Nathan Legare and a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, all from Pittsburgh.

Petry had 27 points (six goals, 21 assists) in 68 games for the Penguins last season, his first with the team after being acquired in a trade with the Canadiens on July 16, 2022. The 35-year-old, who played with Montreal from 2014-21, has two seasons remaining on a four-year contract ($6.25 million average annual value) he signed with the Canadiens on Sept. 25, 2020. The Penguins will pay 25 percent of the remaining salary.

Petry has 353 points (92 goals, 261 assists) in 864 regular-season games for the Penguins, Canadiens and Oilers.

DeSmith was 15-16-4 with a 3.17 goals-against average and .905 save percentage playing an NHL career-high 38 games (33 starts) for Pittsburgh last season. Signed as a free agent on July 1, 2017, the 31-year-old is 58-44-15 with a 2.81 GAA, .912 save percentage and nine shutouts in 134 regular-season games (115 starts). He has one season remaining on a two-year contract ($1.8 million AAV) he signed with the Penguins on July 5, 2022.

The Canadiens also received 22-year-old forward prospect Nathan Legare, who has yet to make his NHL debut and a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

Montreal was 31-45-6 last season and missed the playoffs for the second straight season since making the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, where they lost in five games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

NHL.com independent correspondents Wes Crosby and Chelena Goldman contributed to this report