REPORT: Montreal Canadiens Involved In Erik Karlsson Trade

According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Montreal Canadiens are involved in a major trade.

Friedman explained that the San Jose Sharks are ready to trade superstar defenceman Erik Karlsson to the Pittsburgh Penguins, with the Montreal Canadiens acting as facilitators.

The Canadiens currently have enough salary cap space to facilitate a trade. Take a look at their current salary cap situation by clicking here.

Karlsson, 33, has four years remaining on his contract. It comes with a very heft salary cap hit of $11.5 million per season.

Update: The Montreal Canadiens have, in fact, completed a three-team trade that will facilitate the Karlsson trade to Pittsburgh. Jeff Petry will be returning to the Habs, as will goaltender Casey DeSmith and forward Nathan Lagare.

INSTANT ANALYSIS: The Canadiens come out as winners in the Karlsson/Petry trade

The Canadiens also acquired a second-round pick (2025, Pittsburgh).

Pittsburgh and San Jose are completing an Erik Karlsson trade. Third team is Montreal

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) August 6, 2023

A source has explained to Shen Peng from San Jose Hockey Now that former Habs defenceman Jeff Petry may also be returning to Montreal.

It would be rather surprising to see Petry and his family return to the Habs, seeing as the main reason Petry was traded in the first place was that the Petry family wanted to return to the United States.

However, we should note that the issue arose during the pandemic, which meant that travel was restricted and there were several other health-related factors in play.

Now that the restrictions have been lifted, there is a possibility the Petry family would want to head back to Montreal.

Petry, 35, has two years left on his contract. It has an annual average value of $6.25 million.

He struggled at times with the Penguins last year, but it’s only fair to say the rest of the team did as well. The Penguins missed the playoffs for the first time in Sidney Crosby’s tenure as the team’s captain.

More to come as the details are available…

I'm hearing that Granlund is going to #SJSharks in a Karlsson trade, and I THINK Petry is being re-routed to Montreal. Not sure about other pieces. It does sound like it's happening today

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) August 6, 2023