The NHL season is nearly a quarter of the way in, and contending teams are starting to separate themselves from the pack. One of those teams is the Carolina Hurricanes, who have the best record in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, there are teams falling behind already, such as the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Hurricanes could be looking to buy throughout the season to make a run at another Stanley Cup.

The Penguins have a player that the Hurricanes once coveted. Heading into the 2023-24 NHL season, the Hurricanes were interested in Erik Karlsson, who was then playing for the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks traded him to the Penguins instead. Now, the Hurricanes could be interested again, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.

“I bring this up because, well, Karlsson is on an expiring contract, and the Penguins will be sellers ahead of the March 1 trade deadline. And I strongly believe the Hurricanes will come calling again on Karlsson once the Penguins decide it’s time to formally open up his trade market, which I suspect won’t be until the new year,” LeBrun wrote. “Not only did Carolina try to get him three years ago, but consider the player the Hurricanes tried so hard to sign last summer: John Carlson. They traded for his rights to get ahead of him hitting unrestricted free agency, but they ran out of time to get a contract done, and once July 1 hit, even though Carolina tried all day still to sign him, Tampa Bay jumped in to get Carlson.”

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The Hurricanes look like a team that could repeat, and want a veteran offensive blueliner on their roster. They tried to get that with John Carlson, but could get that with Erik Karlsson. This year, Karlsson leads the Penguins with 19 points, having three goals and 16 assists. He also had 66 points last year.

The Hurricanes will not be the only team to go after the veteran blueliner, but they may be the only team where Karlsson is the missing piece to lifting the Cup again.