The Erik Karlsson trades: From Ottawa cornerstone to serial franchise reset
A widening gap between a superstar and a sinking team
By the middle of the 2010s, Erik Karlsson was more than the best player on the Ottawa Senators. He was the identity of the franchise. A two-time Norris Trophy winner, the catalyst of Ottawa’s 2017 playoff run, and the kind of defenseman who made his team instantly dangerous.
But Ottawa’s competitive window collapsed. Veterans left, ownership turbulence worsened, and the roster weakened. As the team slipped toward a rebuild, Karlsson’s contract expiration loomed like a countdown clock.
The disconnect became obvious. Ottawa needed to reset. Karlsson wanted to compete. Their paths no longer aligned.
The San Jose Sharks saw an opening.
The moment Ottawa chose its future
On September 13, 2018, the Senators traded their captain.
San Jose believed Karlsson was the final piece for a deep postseason run. Ottawa, meanwhile, sought a large, flexible return built around youth, draft capital, and roster breathing room. It was a collision of timelines: one team pushing in, the other pushing out.
The deal arrived with shock, but not surprise. Everyone had been waiting for it; no one knew how it would ultimately be judged.
How the blockbuster trade broke down in 2018
Key detail: The 2020 first rounder became the pick used on Tim Stutzle, a franchise-changing outcome.
Two franchises, two diverging arcs
Karlsson pushed the Sharks to the 2019 Western Conference Final, giving San Jose the surge it hoped for. But injuries lingered, the roster aged, and the team’s competitive window slammed shut soon after.
Ottawa’s return, meanwhile, matured slowly and then suddenly.
+ Norris emerged as a top-six center.
+ Stutzle became a foundational offensive star.
+ DeMelo provided stability before being moved for further futures.
+ Tierney and Balcers filled roles during the rebuild’s early years
What once looked like a lopsided loss for Ottawa instead became one of the defining structural pivots of its long-term rebuild.
Karlsson’s 101 point resurgence in 2022 23 gave San Jose one more opportunity to reshape its direction.
When San Jose pivoted and Pittsburgh went all in
By 2023, the Sharks were fully rebuilding. Karlsson’s elite play no longer matched their competitive timeline. A move benefited both sides.
The Pittsburgh Penguins, still driven by Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang, needed another star to extend their contention window.
The Montreal Canadiens stepped in to facilitate the cap gymnastics.
On August 6, 2023, the second major Erik Karlsson trade became official.
The three team trade that reshaped the 2023 offseason
Different timelines, different motivations
For Pittsburgh, Karlsson was a push to keep the Crosby era alive. His skating, vision, and transition play promised to extend the window.
For San Jose, the deal provided financial clarity and long-term flexibility. It aligned the roster fully with a rebuild.
For Montreal, the move was about leveraging cap space, adding futures, and maintaining optionality.
Karlsson’s moves and the choices they forced
Put the two Karlsson trades side by side and a pattern emerges.
Ottawa moved on from an expiring superstar and, after years of debate, can point to Norris and Stutzle as proof that the decision accelerated their rebuild.
San Jose twice used Karlsson as a franchise lever: first to push an aging core into one last run, then to free up their books and commit to a youth movement.
Pittsburgh leveraged his late prime value for one last aggressive push around a legendary core.
In each case, Karlsson was not just a player. He was a pivot point. His presence, his contract, and his performance forced front offices to choose a lane: go all in, reset, or double down.
His trades track the modern NHL’s tension between the cap, aging stars, and the fear of wasting prime years. Ottawa chose a hard reset and eventually hit on stars of its own. San Jose chose to swing when the window was cracked open and later paid the price. Pittsburgh chose to squeeze everything it could out of an era that has already delivered multiple championships.
That is the real through line of Erik Karlsson’s trade history. It is not just that he moved twice. It is that each move revealed exactly where a franchise believed it stood, and what it was willing to risk.