KARLSSON GOING BUST ON THE GOAL FRONT
With three goals in his first 15 games, William Karlsson is on pace for just 17 this season. It’s still more than the six he scored two years ago in Columbus. But it looks like he won’t get close to the 43 goals he scored in his breakout season last year in Vegas.
That’s OK, said Karlsson, who told me on Monday that he has no problem with being a so-called onehit wonder.
“Going into the season, I was thinking realistically it’s going to be tough to get 43 goals again,” said Karlsson.
“It’s really only (Alex) Ovechkin and (Patrik) Laine who are that consistent. So I tried not to put any goals when I came into the year. Obviously, I want to be a guy that scores points. But that’s my mindset.”
It sounds like Karlsson has done his homework.
We tend to set 50 goals as a benchmark for snipers, but getting to 40 nowadays is just as difficult — especially on a consistent basis. Not including last year, when eight players (Ovechkin, Laine, Karlsson, Evgeni Malkin, Eric Staal, Connor McDavid, Tyler Seguin and Anders Lee) reached the 40-goal mark, there were only 19 players who scored 40 or more goals in the past seven seasons.
Of those, 11 did it just the one time. Chances are Karlsson will be adding his name to that list. He doesn’t expect that he will be challenging for the Rocket Richard Trophy again in his career. But after posting a league-best plus-49 rating last season, he does have his sights on the Selke Trophy.
“For sure, that’s how I see myself,” said Karlsson, who finished sixth in Selke Trophy voting last season. “Of course, if I could be a 40-goal scorer every year that would be great. But it’s not realistic. Just going into every year trying to be a two-way guy. Try to get better that way.”