Erik Karlsson Fixes Major Issue the Penguins Have in the Back End

With this core, the Pittsburgh Penguins have won an impressive three Stanley Cups, but as the group ages, they realized they encountered one major problem on the back end.

Speed, speed, speed

Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, the players they brought in around Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang lacked one major attribute: speed.




This is something that was cured greatly with the acquisition of Karlsson, as it added plenty of speed to the blue line, giving them another player that can put plenty of pressure on opposing teams.

A contender?

While the Penguins added significant firepower to their team this summer, with Reilly Smith and Ryan Graves joining the team as well, they remain in the stacked Eastern Conference, which has no less than 10 contenders.

Sure, Karlsson will give them more speed and offensive firepower, but with an ageing group, this could potentially be their final run, so expect to see them throw everything into this season.

As Read on The Hockey Writers - Penguins' Acquisition of Karlsson Changes the Team's Complexion