Sad News: Panthers Defense man may not play again due to…

Karlsson, the star defenseman, has been a huge letdown for the struggling Penguins.

Erik Karlsson, the star defenseman for the Pittsburgh Penguins, is in his second season with the team. In 16 games this season, he has 10 assists and 12 points, following an initial season in which he recorded 45 assists and 56 points in 82 games.

Those numbers would be fantastic for most blueliners, but for two reasons, Karlsson seems like a huge letdown in Pittsburgh. The first explanation is rather clear: Karlsson’s earnings. Karlsson has carried a cap charge of about $10 million (according to financial statistics from Puck Pedia) in Pittsburgh since being acquired from San Jose in the summer of 2023 (and $11.5 million if you include the $1.5 million San Jose kept in the transaction). Teams expect top players earning that much money to score at least one point a game, and Karlsson’s salary ties him with Toronto’s William Nylander as the NHL’s sixth-highest paid player. Karlsson, though, isn’t even producing that much offensive, much less the kind

If Karlsson were making half of what he does now and playing the offensive style he does now, that would be one thing. Being the highest-paid D-man in the world requires more than the 34-year-old Karlsson is now contributing, but a $5.5-million D-man would be regarded as succeeding with that kind of offensive output.