Erik Karlsson Finally Hitting His Stride With The San Jose Sharks

On September 13th, 2018, the San Jose Sharks added elite defenseman Erik Karlsson to their already good team. The Sharks always put good teams together every season, but always come up short of winning the Stanley Cup. Team teal has only made two big signings in the last 13 years that made a huge impact on the franchise and those players were Joe Thornton and Brent Burns. Thornton brought his size and amazing passing ability. Burns brought a powerful slap shot, hard work mentality, and fun-loving personality. Now with Karlsson, he fills in the missing piece of the Sharks having that extra talent on the roster.

Since 2009, Karlsson has the most goals scored by a defenseman. He is one of the best defenseman in the league because of his scoring ability, power play presence, ability to break up plays on defense, and make other skaters around him better. He had around 20 goals and 50 plus points in his best seasons with the Ottawa Senators.  So when the Sharks picked Karlsson up, they were hoping he would make an instant impact for the team. Well, surprisingly this wasn’t the case right away.

Karlsson struggled the first two months of the season putting up just 2 goals, 13 assists, and a -9. Also, the Sharks were playing on and off hockey to start the season and weren’t living up to the hype that everyone in the NHL put them at. It’s almost like Karlsson was putting too much pressure on himself, as the rest of the Sharks stars were thriving. Fans at games were starting to get a little worried with the lack of production, but still hopeful that he could turn it around. Then once Karlsson blasted his first goal of the season in November, he would start to find his stride.

In December, Karlsson scored 1 goal, picked up 16 assists, and had a plus/minus of 11. He started to break up more plays on defense, got better on the power play, and didn’t go to the sin bin as much. Now he is back to his all-star status and his recent production earned him a spot in the NHL All Star game. He also got the Sharks player of the month award. In his latest game, he helped the Sharks beat the NHL best Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2. He had 2 assists, 2 plus/minus points, and a power play point. Now that Karlsson is putting points up at will, team teal will start to thrive in the second half.

The San Jose Sharks are in a tight division race in the Pacific and all their stars are have good or possibly career years. Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, and Timo Meier have been lighting the lamp at a fantastic pace. The Burns and Karlsson effect is coming to play as they have been on a crazy points pace over the last ten games or so. The goaltending Martin Jones and Aaron Dell have been below average from what Sharks fans are use to seeing, but Jones is looking a little better as the second half starts up. All in all, Karlsson makes the defense whole and full of talent, the team has one more elite, scoring force at the blue line, and above all, the guy competes at a high level night after night. Only time will tell if this guy is the guy that puts the Sharks over that Stanley Cup bump.

– Michael Garaventa, WTF Sports Intern

WTF is up with Erik Karlsson?

WTF is up with Erik Karlsson?

Last week, it was reported that Superstar Defenseman Erik Karlsson was on his way out of Ottawa in a trade where he would be sent to the Tampa Bay Lightning:

https://twitter.com/TSNSimmer/status/1015057166426877952

Well, today is July 9th, and from all accounts, Karlsson is still an Ottawa Senator. It makes me ask, WTF is happening with Karlsson? The situation has seemingly went silent since someone reported that the Karlsson-to-Tampa deal was not true at that time. And I feel Karlsson is way to under appreciated in this situation. Once the 2017-18 season ended, all the talk and hype was about John Tavares. And deservingly so, he was the free agent and could pick wherever he wanted. However, many have felt and known for a while that Karlsson is on his way OUT of Ottawa. It almost happened at the Trade Deadline, but the Senators held back, hoping for an opportunity to rekindle and keep him for the future.

Well, clearly that is not the case. The Senators offered Karlsson a contract of 8 years for $80 million, which is simple math for our viewers, the smartest in the world, of an annual average of $10 M per season. And guess what, Karlsson declined. Some may say, “WTF is he thinking?” Well I feel it is pretty simple. Ottawa is going nowhere, and in no reason should his prime be wasted on that team. Karlsson is a superstar for a reason. He just watched Drew Doughty receive an 8 year deal that will net him an annual average of around 11 million per deal. In no way does he want nothing less, he deserves nothing less.

Erik Karlsson is the player that is better than your favorite player. Unless your favorite player in all of hockey is Crosby, McDavid, or Doughty, your favorite player is not better than what Erik Karlsson is. Just two seasons ago, I watched Karlsson bring the Senators to the Eastern Conference Finals. Yes, the same team that stunk it up badly all of last year and was essentially non existent. And he did all of that with two hairline fractures in his left heel. I watched him single handedly at times during that series in the 2016-17 playoffs against the Bruins dominate, make his team so much better than they really were. So many peoples favorite Player is PK Subban, who is great and all, love the guy, great player, but Erik Karlsson is THAT much better than him. As I said, he only trails three guys as being the best in the league in my eyes. And now we are just waiting to see where he lands.

https://twitter.com/scott_edwards18/status/1015064701330427904

As one can see, Karlsson heading to Tampa isn’t the best in my eyes because I am a Bruins fan. But as a Karlsson fan, I would like to see where the leagues best offensive defenseman heads. And to put into perspective for fans who may just watch the Bruins. You love Torey Krug probably right? Love how he is on the offensive side of the puck? Well Karlsson is that and then some. I’m here to not only ask what is up with Karlsson, but make people realize why him moving should be such a bigger deal than it seems. The player that is overlooked the most because he plays in Ottawa must become the player everyone recognizes. It’s the best chance at making the NHL bigger, along with the players themselves.

Now let me play a quick game before I finish this up. I’m going to name a defenseman that people probably love and answer if he’s better than Erik Karlsson or not. Ready? Victor Hedman. Nope. PK Subban. Nope. Kris Letang. Nope. Shea Weber. Nope. Ryan Suter. Nope. Drew Doughty. Yes.

Look at that, only one player you can say is better than Karlsson, and that’s just because Doughty is out of this world on defense, but I’d still contest that Karlsson could be considered better, as he brings a better offensive prowess. But as a hockey fan, I feel Doughty is better but a slight margin.

The 2-Time Norris Trophy winner, 4-Time All-Star has put up point totals of 71, 74, 78, and 82. As a defenseman in hockey nowadays, that is unheard of. He has led the entire NHL in assists before in his career (2015-2016 season). He has the ability to consistently average over 25 minutes a night, and has a chance to dramatically change a team when they acquire his talents. His natural speed, shifty ness, and playmaking ability makes him that’s special forever acquires him.

All in all, I am just waiting to see where Karlsson ends up. Looks to still be the Lightning, but the fact that it hasn’t happened yet raises a few questions of simply what is happening. As a fan, I just hope Erik Karlsson ends up somewhere that his talents are appreciated.

What do you think? Where do you think Erik Karlsson will go? Where do you think he ranks in the NHL? Let me know!

• Scott Edwards, Creator of WTF Sports