KARLSSON LOOKS GOOD IN TEAL
Superstar defenceman seems happier and more relaxed in first outing with new team
For the first time in his NHL career, Erik Karlsson put on a jersey that didn’t belong to the Ottawa Senators. But it was his smile, not the jersey, that seemed different at a news conference to officially welcome San Jose’s newest acquisition on Wednesday.
“I knew he was going to look great in teal,” said Sharks GM Doug Wilson.
“It matches my eyes,” Karlsson said jokingly.
When was the last time Karlsson smiled? Or joked? Or said the words “fun” and “extremely excited” in regards to the upcoming season?
It certainly didn’t happen much last year or this summer. It hasn’t happened in a long while. To suggest the 28-year-old was in need of a change — any change — after what he went through both on and off the ice in Ottawa would be an understatement.
A year after being one goal away from the Stanley Cup final, the Senators imploded in a way that seems unimaginable. At the heart of it all was their captain, who began the season battling back from reconstructive ankle surgery and ended the year battling in the courts with a former teammate and his fiancee over a cyberbullying allegation.
No wonder the Senators ranked second-last in the league with just 67 points.
“Touching on last season,” Karlsson said, “I think it was the perfect storm the wrong way.”
So when the trade finally came, Karlsson was initially upset to leave the team he spent the first nine years of his career with, and the city where he met his wife and set roots in. But a part of him also welcomed it. After all, he might be a Shark, but at least he won’t have to continue swimming in what must have seemed like shark-infested waters.
“That was their decision to go the way they did,” Karlsson said about being traded from Ottawa. “I respect that. It’s part of the business. I wish them nothing but the best. The guys who are playing there right now are good friends of mine, and guys that I’ve played with for a long time. From my perspective, I’m looking forward to my next chapter.
“At the same time, I wish them nothing but the best and I hope they accomplish everything that they’re hoping for.”
Karlsson, who becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer, was partly pushed out of Ottawa for financial reasons. That won’t be the case with the Sharks. The team, which erected several billboards around Northern California welcoming Karlsson to the city, wants him around past this season, and is already putting on the full-court press when it comes to convincing him to re-sign a long-term deal.
San Jose, as Karlsson is quickly finding out, is nothing like Ottawa, both in terms of climate and culture.
Even though the Sharks have yet to win a Stanley Cup, this is a team that has grown used to winning in the regular season. Since 2003-04, San Jose has won its division five times and missed the playoffs just once. Three years ago, the Sharks somewhat vanquished their playoff demons by reaching the Cup final.
Karlsson may be only a oneyear rental, but the Sharks are gambling his addition will take them over the top. Anything less and Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion might look like he made a decent deal.
“It’s rare when this type of player becomes available,” said Wilson, who added he is comfortable with Karlsson’s expiring contract. “He fits for right now and in the future.”
Joining a defence that includes 2017 Norris Trophy winner Brent Burns and Team Canada mainstay Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Karlsson is in a position he has never been in before. He doesn’t have to be the captain or the best player. He doesn’t have to lead the team in scoring and carry the load night after night. He just has to play his game and try not to spoil what San Jose already has cooking.
Not including the lockoutshortened season in 2012-13, the 62 points Karlsson scored last year was his lowest in the previous six seasons. Part of that was the ankle injury that hampered him in the beginning and all the other off-ice drama that engulfed the Senators. But when you look at who Karlsson was passing the puck to, it’s amazing he even cracked the 50-point mark.
At his first practice Wednesday, Karlsson played alongside Vlasic and saw time during a 3-on-3 scrimmage with Burns and Joe Pavelski. On one play, Burns hit Karlsson with a 130-foot pass for a breakaway.
“Obviously, playing 3-on-3 with Burnsie and Pav is nothing too challenging,” Karlsson said. “The shape that I’m in right now and the mindset I have is the best it’s ever been.”
Touching on last season, I think it was the perfect storm the wrong way. ERIK KARLSSON, Sharks defenceman