There is a video making the rounds on social media regarding a potential trade between the Ottawa Senators and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
On the surface, the video looks innocent enough. It’s a roughly 30-second clip of GM Steve Staios showing off what happened in the lead-up to the 2026 NHL Draft.
But there’s a soundbite that has caught everyone’s attention. At that particular point, Staios refers to a potential trade with the Penguins.
“No pick offers are good enough just yet, but Pittsburgh's interesting with the roster player.”
Steve Staios: “No pick offers are good enough just yet, but Pittsburgh's interesting with the roster player.”
— The Mug NHL (@TheMugNHL) August 13, 2026
Seems as though the Senators were offered a roster player for the 25th overall selection in the 2026 NHL Draft, but it’s not confirmed who. pic.twitter.com/wO1d0QsP0g
It appears the deal involved the 25th overall pick for the 33rd and 41st pick, and potentially a roster player.
And that’s what's really driving speculation. Who could that roster player have been? Most importantly, would that player have been good enough to warrant the Sens sendig the 25th pick to the Pens in exchange?
It’s a tantalizing thought. For months, there has been speculation about the Penguins’ willingness to move wingers Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust. Would either one of those two have been worth the 25th pick?
It’s interesting.
But could there have been a much bigger deal in the works?
Could Erik Karlsson have been the player in question?
Earlier this offseason, we posed the question of an Erik Karlsson reunion with the Senators. The idea stemmed from a social media post by veteran NHL journalist James Murphy. Murphy was clear that the thought was his idea, and not a solid rumor.
But with the Staios clip surfacing, could the discussion have involved Karlsson? As such, could the Senators have considered the 25th pick for Karlsson as the main part of the deal?
It’s truly “interesting,” as Staios put it. Surely, there were other moving parts in the deal. But you have to wonder if a Karlsson return to the Nation’s Capital was much closer than we originally thought.
The question to keep in mind is: Would the deal have been worth it?
Senators ended up using the pick
When everything was said and done, the Senators ended up using the pick. The Sens got Jonas Lagerberg-Hoen. The pick promises to deliver a power forward to the organization. And if the move works out as anticipated, the Senators might have been better off.
But if the Senators-Penguins trade was really that close, would it mean that two sides could circle back to it?
It’s another intriguing possibility. There are still a couple of weeks left before training camp. So, there’s still time for a late-summer blockbuster. It might not be quite so feasible at this point. Karlsson comes with a massive cap hit, and, well, the Sens wouldn’t have a lot of runway to clear cap space.
But who knows if there might be something in the works once the season begins?
I wouldn’t bet on this deal happening anytime soon. While you never know, this isn’t the type of deal that just happens. It might take a little bit of legwork before the trade potentially crosses the finish line.
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