KARLSSON MUST BE BETTER

Here's an excerpt from a recent TribLive.com column:

Erik Karlsson must be better. The three-time Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s best defenseman arrived in Pittsburgh via a huge trade before last season but was a fraction of his prior self.

Karlsson isn’t doing great right now, either: He played in the pre-training camp golf tournament but wasn’t ready for the start of practice. Maybe he got hurt pushing a blocking sled.

Karlsson’s defensive problems are great, and they are many.

But that wasn’t what went wrong for him last season. Karlsson had just 56 points, down from 101 the season prior. He was also a big part of mangling the power play.

Karlsson’s salary cap is $11.5 million. He needs to live up to that. Karlsson might feel he’s part of an ensemble cast in Pittsburgh, but he needs to excel.

To read the entire column, click HERE.

The top four on defense could be solid: Karlsson and Kris Letang will man the right side, Marcus Petterson and new addition Matt Grzelcyk the left. The right side will attack, the left side will defend.

The third pair will be about Ryan Graves and his $4.5 million cap hit trying to redeem how poorly he played last season. Though Graves recently called that perception a media creation. HAW, HAW, HAW, HAW!

Coach Mike Sullivan could do the team a favor by limiting who activates among the defensemen.

That's OK for Karlsson and Letang. But any other defenseman joining the attack doesn't have the skills to very often get results, and too often leaves himself out of position when the opposition comes the other way.

But one size fits all. That's Sullivan's way.