Elliotte Friedman Urges the Penguins to Trade Erik Karlsson to Western Conference Powerhouse

Kyle Dubas, the Pittsburgh Penguins' President of Hockey Operations and General Manager, hasn't hid his intentions to trade a few players ahead of the deadline to bring youth, energy, and talent to his team.

To do so, he might need to part ways with key elements of his lineup, including his first blockbuster acquisition with the Penguins: Erik Karlsson.

The star defenseman has been offering inconsistent performances in his career, and it hasn't been different since joining the Penguins two years ago.

However, with two more seasons on his $11,500,000 AAV contract, it won't be easy to ship him off to another team.

Fortunately, a few organizations could be interested in his talent and experience going into the playoffs.

The renowned insider Elliotte Friedman suggested on the latest 32 Thoughts episode that the Dallas Stars could be among those teams.

While he stated that he was only speculating, Karlsson to the Stars would make sense for both the Penguins and Dallas.

The Stars are currently playing without their star defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who had knee surgery earlier this month.

Karlsson could be an interesting option to replace him, and with Heiskanen's salary on the LTIR, the Stars could have enough cap space to bring the Norris winner on board.

However, if the Penguins don't retain salary, and considering Karlsson's recent struggles, the price tag on him wouldn't be that high, in my opinion.

This year, he has been great offensively, scoring 40 points in 59 games, but struggled defensively, tallying a -19 rating.

It will be interesting to see what Dubas has in store for Penguins fans going into the deadline. But if he were to trade Karlsson, it is hoped that he will bring something interesting to replace him.