PITTSBURGH — The NHL Draft came and went, as did the free agent frenzy, and Erik Karlsson remains a member of the San Jose Sharks.
The hot rumor in recent days was that Kyle Dubas and the Pittsburgh Penguins were big after the Norris Trophy winner.
The big obstacle, as always, is the four years remaining on Karlsson's deal at a cap hit of $11.5 million, and working out a balance in compensation and retention in any deal.
For Hunter Hodies of Locked on Penguins, there is one player the Penguins should not include in a package going the other way, and that's defenseman Marcus Pettersson.
He's just too good defensively, and subtracting him for an offensive-minded player like Karlsson would not be a net positive.
Hodies says Karlsson could work in Pittsburgh if he has a strong defensive partner, but that "immediately goes out the window if you trade Pettersson."
"I am still down for the Penguins trading for Karlsson, but it has to be on their own terms, and it has to be a package that makes sense for them," Hodies adds.
At the moment, the Penguins are over the salary cap limit, meaning they'd have to shed quite a bit of salary in order to make a Karlsson deal work.
Dubas has been busy as of late, signing goaltender Tristan Jarry to an extension and adding the likes of Noel Acciari and Ryan Graves.
Still, the idea of putting Karlsson in a lineup with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang is incredibly tantalizing.
Just don't add Pettersson to any trade package. Dubas would only be making the team's overall defense worse.