Penguins drop puck with new highest-paid player on the ice

The Pittsburgh Penguins drop the puck on Tuesday at PPG Paints Arena for the first time during the 2023-24 NHL season, and for the first time in more than a decade, their highest-paid player isn’t named Sidney or Evgeni.

Newcomer Erik Karlsson, winner of the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman last season, takes his first shift against the Chicago Blackhawks Tuesday as the team’s top earner, with a salary of $11.5 million. Only four players in the NHL currently have higher annual salaries than Karlsson, according to CapFriendly.

The three-team trade that brought Karlsson to the Penguins in August is one reason for optimism that the Penguins will return to the playoffs after having a 16-year streak broken when it missed the postseason last year. That streak was the longest in NHL history, during which the team won three Stanley Cups. Karlsson, 33, is entering his 15th season. He had 25 goals and 76 assists in 2022-23 for the San Jose Sharks, which retained $1.5 million annually of his salary through the end of his current contract in 2026-27. Only 20 defensemen in NHL history have more career points than Karlsson’s 761.

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