With the Pittsburgh Penguins entering the offseason after a brief return to the postseason, TribLive will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 53 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until future seasons — with the organization.

Starting with veteran Noel Acciari and going on through to prospect Bill Zonnon, every player will be profiled in alphabetical order.

This series is scheduled to be published every day until June 24, two days before the start of the NHL Draft. In the event of a transaction, that schedule will be altered as necessary.

(Note: All contract information courtesy of Puckpedia.)

Erik Karlsson

Position: Defenseman

Shoots: Right

Age: 35

Height: 6-foot

Weight: 185 pounds

2025-26 NHL regular season statistics: 75 games, 66 points (15 goals, 51 assists), 23:36 of average ice time per contest

2025-26 NHL postseason statistics: Six games, three points (one goal, two assists), 28:37 of average ice time per contest

Contract: In the seventh year of an eight-year contract with a salary cap hit of $11.5 million. Pending unrestricted free agent in 2027

(The San Jose Sharks retain $1.5 million of Karlsson’s yearly salary cap hit for the remainder of the contract. Additionally, this contract contains a no-movement clause.)

Acquired: Trade, Aug. 6, 2023

This season: Last summer, there was plenty of speculation as to whether Erik Karlsson would remain with the Penguins.

After all, the club was supposedly turning to youth and the presence of a defenseman in his mid-30s who had yet to meet massive expectations since joining the team wasn’t congruent with that pursuit.

But those suggestions wound up being a lot of empty noise as Karlsson remained with the Penguins and pieced together his best season since being acquired in one of the largest trades in NHL history.

Finding a suitable defensive partner in left-hander Parker Wotherspoon, Karlsson wasn’t overly prolific to open the season as he was limited to nine assists in his first 12 games, but he was a vital component to the Penguins’ strong 8-2-2 opening to 2025-26.

Even as the team’s overall success waned through challenging stretches throughout November and December, Karlsson remained arguably the team’s steadiest player as he collected 28 points in 38 games before New Year’s Day.

By Jan. 2, Karlsson earned a selection for Sweden’s entry into the Olympic tournament in February.

An undisclosed injury landed Karlsson on injured reserve on Jan. 13 and cost him five games, bringing a consecutive games played streak of 205 – the longest on the club at the time – to a halt.

Back in the Penguins’ lineup by Jan. 22, Karlsson entered the Olympics on the right side of Sweden’s top pairing. As his country wound up with a disappointing seventh-place finish, Karlsson totaled four assists in five games.

Following the Olympics, Karlsson truly displayed his value to the Penguins. With forward Sidney Crosby sidelined by a presumed right knee injury he suffered during the Olympics, Karlsson did quite a bit of the heavy lifting for the Penguins and totaled 31 points in his final 24 games of the regular season, helping the team secure a playoff berth for the first time in four years.

In the postseason, Karlsson ate some major minutes as the team’s top defenseman, but like most of his teammates, he was hemmed in by the defensively disciplined Flyers.

The future: One of the more pressing questions this upcoming offseason for the Penguins involves Karlsson and whether he will sign a contract extension, which he is eligible to do so on July 1.

Karlsson, who turns 36 on Sunday, has yet to win the Stanley Cup in his otherwise dazzling 17-year career. And by the admission of president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas, the Penguins aren’t particularly close to being a true championship contender.

While Karlsson and the Penguins seem happy with one another just based on how he is currently deployed by the club, is he willing to wait out whatever rebuilding process Dubas has enacted to restore the Penguins’ hopes in becoming a legitimate threat to win the Stanley Cup?

Even as he gets deeper into his mid-30s, Karlsson is still a dominant force who can create offensive opportunities anytime he has the puck. And the defensive miscues that plagued his game in his first two seasons were largely limited under first-year head coach Dan Muse. Further to that, Karlsson even became a regular presence on the penalty kill this past season and offered some of the most complete play of his career.

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All of that is why he was the team’s MVP in 2025-26.

It’s still fair to wonder how much longer he’ll be around. But Karlsson displayed how special he can still be in 2025-26.