Elliotte Friedman Reveals What's Next for Future Hall-of-Famer Erik Karlsson

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been the surprise of the 2025/26 NHL season to this point, with a team that many expected to struggle starting the season with a 9-4-2 record through their first 15 games.

There's been some surprise performances in there, but for the most part, that success has been driven by the Penguins veteran group of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson.

The latter was in trade conversations all summer long, but through 15 games he has been stellar, posting 1 goal and 12 points as he sits fourth on the team in scoring to this point.

Now, top NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman has addressed speculation over Karlsson's future, and after all the trade rumours this past summer, he has now revealed that the best option for Karlsson and the team may be him finishing out his contract with the Penguins.

While Karlsson is off to a great start this season, he is still 35-years of age, and if this hot start continues and GM Kyle Dubas gets some good offers for him, he may consider making the move.

Ultimately though, if Pittsburgh continue to dominate while Karlsson produces at the high level we've seen from him thus far, it would make sense for both team and player to stay together as they make a genuine push for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.