Erik Karlsson tells Swedish outlet he has spoken to Penguins, and he's not OK with staying in San Jose

We still don’t know if the San Jose Sharks are going to trade defenseman Erik Karlsson to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

But now we do know that he has spoken to the Pens, and we know he doesn’t want to stay with his current franchise.

Karlsson confirmed both angles to the ongoing speculation about his future during an interview with the Swedish outlet “Expressen.”

Kalrsson was asked if he would “be OK with staying with the (Sharks) for the four seasons remaining” on his current contract. It carries a salary cap hit of $11.5 million.

“No, I am not,” Karlsson replied via Pittsburgh Hockey Now. “I like San Jose and I like it there, but I’ve never been able to win before. I want that chance now that I’m at the end of my career. I have been open about that with (Sharks general manager) Mike (Grier) from the first day he started. He hasn’t had any problems with it. We understand each other and we will do so regardless of what happens in the future.”

The reigning Norris Trophy winner said that he is speaking with other teams about the prospect of them hammering out a deal with San Jose, and the Penguins are on that list. But he didn’t go so far as to say that the Pens are on top of it. In fact, the 33-year-old said that he doesn’t have a specific preference when it comes to a team, a division or even a conference.

“I am open in this process. I don’t have a chosen destination, I just want the best chance to get to the best team. Where it is? Well, we’ll see. I think San Jose appreciated that I was honest with them, because this is a complicated thing to go through,” Karlsson said.

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In terms of his conversations with Pittsburgh, Karlsson said he has spoken with president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas and assistant general manager Jason Spezza. Karlsson and Spezza were teammates in Ottawa.

“I have played against (the Penguins) for many years and have a good grasp of that group of players that are there,” Karlsson said. “Me and Spezza have talked a lot, but we have been friends since before. There has been no business there. We also talked when he was in Toronto. It’s more on a friendship level, I’d say. I’ve talked to the people I need to talk to in Pittsburgh and Dubas is, of course, one of them. It feels like I’ve tried to get as much information as I can from the teams that are interesting.”

Karlsson says he has been in touch with Carolina, Toronto, Seattle and “a few more teams” as well.

For now, Karlsson insists he’s not getting antsy with the situation.

“It takes time and it’s a process,” Karlsson said. “Of course I get updates, but it’s just a lot of talk back and forth. How it works, what they are doing now and what will happen — I have no answer to that. I’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

Last week on the “Breakfast With Benz” podcast, Sharks reporter Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now told us that he believes the Penguins are still the frontrunners to acquire Karlsson’s services.