Fresh outlook, haircut propel Karlsson’s play
Will the real Erik Karlsson please stand up?
It’s what the Sharks have been asking since Karlsson signed a league-max eightyear, $92 million contract extension in July 2019, making him the most handsomely paid defenseman in the NHL.
And while it’s been an upand-down road, the 31-year-old is displaying on a nightly basis what San Jose hoped was still there. Never mind missing action while in COVID protocol, Karlsson’s consistent play and elite skills are on full display this season.
“Karly is arguably one of the best defensemen in the league,” Sharks goalie James Reimer said. “I remember playing against him in Ottawa, and he had the hardware to back up being one of the best.”
Karlsson’s four-game scoring streak ended during expansion Seattle’s 3-1 win at SAP Center on Tuesday night as only captain Logan Couture found the back of the net late. In addition to his recent run of three goals and five points, Karlsson had 10 points in his last 10 games before the loss to the Kraken.
Karlsson has twice won the Norris Trophy — and two other times been a runner-up — as the NHL’s best on the blue line. Those are in his recent past, but so, too, are nagging injuries — among them multiple groin ailments and a broken thumb that prevented him from gaining traction after he joined the Sharks in September 2018.
“When he feels good about his game,” said Sharks coach Bob Boughner, pausing to add it’s the best he’s seen him play defensively, “he’s working to get up in gaps and it’s cutting a lot of time and space off for the other team.”
In other words, Karlsson is back to being the two-way threat with skating, puckhandling, passing, defending and offensive skills that characterized his play for most of the Swede’s 13-year NHL career.
“I don’t know if it’s me playing better,” Karlsson started, “I think it’s more collectively as a group. We’re doing a great job, and both goaltenders have played good. That makes you forget mistakes that happen and it builds confidence.”
Typical of hockey players, Karlsson deflects attention and adulation. He credits a fresh outlook on chopping his 10year long flow in favor of a preppy cut because of how long it took his hair to dry after his young daughter insisted they jump in the pool most summer days.
“I decided to cut it off and live a simpler life,” Karlsson said with a smile.
Ice time has been cut, too, but he’s showing that less is more. Karlsson was a combined minus-33 with a modest offensive output the past two seasons averaging 24 minutes a game. He’s already matched last season’s goal output (eight) and was a plus-4 while averaging 22:21 in his first 22 games.
“It’s starting to get better and better,” said Karlsson, whose 492 assists and 643 points lead all defensemen since debuting with Ottawa in 2009-10. “It’s starting to go in the right direction again.”
It’s the offense that will get Karlsson noticed. He scored in 14 of his first 22 games, not going more than three games without at least one point.
“He’s been a catalyst for our offense the last little while,” Boughner said. “He looks calm. He has that skill to break out of our end, putting it on the tape at full speed so we can enter the other team’s zone. And he’s shooting the puck better than I’ve ever seen.”