Penguins' Erik Karlsson calls out Canadian media

The Pittsburgh Penguins are in a serious funk right now, and they've already parted ways with a major asset in forward Jake Guentzel at the NHL Trade Deadline, sending him to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Michael Bunting. 

Meanwhile, their prize offseason acquisition in reigning Norris Trophy winning defenseman Erik Karlsson has had lukewarm results, as he's nowhere near the point pace that he enjoyed last season and has also struggled defensively. 

Of course, Karlsson made a name for himself as a member of the Ottawa Senators, and even served as team captain following the departure of franchise icon Daniel Alfredsson. But is there a reunion in the works? 

There has been speculation from various sources that the Senators could be interested at some point in bringing back their former captain. But as far as Karlsson is concerned, there's not much to those rumors whatsoever. In fact, he shrugged off the rumors as, "That's Canada for you."

“Yeah, that’s Canada for you,” Karlsson told reporters.  “I played there for a long time, so I kind of know how that game works. They’ve got a lot of things to talk about every day to [fill] a lot of air time, but they only have a few things to actually discuss.

“They like to make up these what-if scenarios. That’s just the way it is, and it’s not something that I really look into or worry too much about.”

With just eight goals and 36 assists in his first season with the Penguins after being acquired over the summer in a blockbuster trade with the San Jose Sharks, Karlsson is on pace to reach 56 points.

That's certainly not a bad output for just about any defenseman in the NHL, but for Karlsson, who racked up over 100 points last season on a bad San Jose team, it's likely not what GM Kyle Dubas was envisioning. 

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