Mueller: Erik Karlsson trade a massive win for Kyle Dubas, Penguins
How his signature deal works out, or doesn’t, remains to be seen.
But know this about Kyle Dubas: He understands the assignment. He knows what being Penguins general manager means, and the expectations it creates. Swinging a blockbuster three-team, 12-piece deal to land Erik Karlsson already proves that Dubas comprehends what matters to this franchise, its fans and its ownership more than Ron Hextall ever did.
With the Penguins, it’s always about swinging for the fences, it’s always about trying to make the most of right now. Incrementalism has no place with one of the most star-studded franchises in NHL history.
Going big and getting Karlsson is a “right now” move if there ever was one. Last year’s team was lacking in many areas, but one of the biggest never showed up on the stat sheet. The Penguins were stale. There was no juice, despite Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin both playing all 82 games and producing well, the team never had the kind of spark that they’ve so often relied on for deep playoff runs.
Karlsson isn’t a spark, he’s a flamethrower. The reigning Norris Trophy winner (his third, by the way) racked up 101 points, including 25 goals, last season. He’s more of a glorified winger than a true defenseman, but who cares? The Penguins have been defined by offense for all 38 of my years on this planet. It’s hard-wired into the franchise’s DNA.
Karlsson’s elite skating will make the Penguins more dangerous off the rush, and so long as Kris Letang is willing to step aside and let Karlsson run the power play – and most insiders have speculated that he’s fine with such a situation – the chemistry angle should be fine.
He makes the power play better, he drives play at even strength, and he’s still one of the best skaters in the league, even at 33 years old. Karlsson’s presence immediately takes pressure off of Crosby and Malkin, and makes the Penguins a much more dynamic offensive team after a year in which they were uncharacteristically punchless, just 17 in the league in goals scored.
Back to Dubas, though. That he pulled off this deal is in and of itself impressive. Doing it without buying out a contract, while getting both Mikael Granlund’s and Jeff Petry’s deals off the books? That’s borderline miraculous. He more or less undid all of Hextall’s biggest misses in one fell swoop, while bringing in by far the biggest difference-maker of the offseason. For any team.
That’s not good work, that’s great work. That’s A+ work. You’ll see that grade thrown around a lot in the coming days, and I can’t find a compelling reason to dock points. Karlsson’s recent injury history might make you hold your breath, and he’s never going to be confused with a stalwart in his own zone, but it just doesn’t matter. What he’s capable of offensively drastically outweighs any shortcomings.
Dubas parted with assets that shouldn’t matter for this team – draft picks, namely – while offloading dead weight. Against all odds, he has managed to jam open the Penguins’ championship window for another few years. They aren’t one of the league’s top five teams, even with Karlsson, but they’re absolutely playoff-caliber, and much better equipped to escape the first round.
And if that happens, guess what? They’re as good a threat as anyone to make a deep run. The playoffs are random. Goalies get hot, then cool off. Teams are healthy-looking juggernauts, until they aren’t. Anything can happen, and often does. I’ll take my chances with the Penguins trying to ride a wave of postseason randomness.
What I keep coming back to, on what was a great, exciting day for the franchise, is this: Dubas has been here for barely two months, and has already shown he understands what the franchise is all about. Hextall just never “got it.” It isn’t really complicated, either. You’ve got Crosby. He’s still very good, and often great. You’ve still got Malkin. When he’s healthy, he’s a difference-maker. The same thing goes for Letang. The edict should be blissfully simple: Try to win until these guys, particularly the captain, look ready to hang up their skates.
Hextall tried to have it both ways. He tried to live in the present while preparing for the future, and did a remarkably poor job at both. In Dubas’ introductory press conference, he alluded to trying to set the team up for the future, but said that such a goal was part of a two-pronged approach. The other prong was trying to give the core a chance at a fourth Stanley Cup.
Those were his words, but his actions speak louder. Kyle Dubas isn’t thinking about the distant future, and he shouldn’t be. He knows that he only has one real assignment: Make the Penguins a championship contender again.
Trading for Erik Karlsson – by far his biggest coup since taking over – does exactly that.
