Prospect Info: Erik Karlsson as a prospect

[SenzZen]

He jumped up a ton that first year. After the junior tourney in ottawa, it was quite clear he was already moving way up the rankings, and was far and away the best defenseman in the juniors.

Zubov was the name I started using pretty exclusively, and still think that's what we have/hope for.

Yeah the Zubov element was evident with his puck poise, passing and shooting. I noticed that during the 4 live games I attended during the WJC here. I remember mentioning to a buddy that we had a player.

The burners were totally unexpected. No idea he'd be able to skate like he did pre-injury.

 

[Knave]

It is interesting to look at NHL Central scouting mid and end-season reports. Karlsson was nowhere even on the International list (There is NA Skaters, NA Goalies, International Skaters and Goalies - I think those are the 4 categories) and then by the end of the year he was top 5 among internationals.

Yeah look at that mid-season January ranking:

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=5104

63rd among European skaters.

Final list for end of season:

http://www.thefourthperiod.com/draft/draftranks08.html

4th behind Filatov, Petrov, Tedenby

Both are the NHL Central Scouting rankings even though the websites are different - to make it clear.

 

[Rumcajs]

No recollection of his extra year in the SEL but do I vaguely remember his first year. His second year every GDT against him would call him a Marc Andre Bergeron clone who will be a flash in the pan. At that point he was in my estimation a #4 guy who could maybe be a #3 if he refined his game. Well I was wrong

I do remember Karlsson saying he is a Kronwall type. Where he decided on that I dont know

 

[The Waffler]

Such a nice young man

 

[Benjamin]

Such a nice young man

no u,

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

I do remember Karlsson saying he is a Kronwall type. Where he decided on that I dont know

He was known to throw the occasional, huge, open-ice hit.

 

[Novak Djokovic]

Karlsson played the most minutes (out of both teams) in the Ottawa-Pittsburgh series in 2010 at the age of 19.

I knew he was a special player before, but that just confirmed it for me.

 

[Flamingo]

When I was watching Sweden vs Canada Jrs, I couldn't see what they saw in him, as he didn't stand out at all. Thank god for the good scouting we have!

I thought he played exceptionally well at the world juniors. When reporters were peppering the Swedish coach about Hedman, he asked why nobody was asking about their best defenseman, Karlsson.

 

[koreaboy]

That's one of the things they said a lot about him on draft day, that he was actually a pretty good hitter for a guy his size. I even remember the name "kasparaitis" being bandied about as a comparable. That's one aspect of his game that's never emerged, and likely never will.

 

[Xspyrit]

No recollection of his extra year in the SEL but do I vaguely remember his first year. His second year every GDT against him would call him a Marc Andre Bergeron clone who will be a flash in the pan. At that point he was in my estimation a #4 guy who could maybe be a #3 if he refined his game. Well I was wrong

I do remember Karlsson saying he is a Kronwall type. Where he decided on that I dont know

Yeah I remember I had to defend EK a lot, particularly when he was sent down to the AHL for 11 games... The next one was Zibanejad

Man, this board always overeact and cry murder when in fact very positive things happen (EK drafting, Zibanejad drafting, Turris trade, etc)

This board needs a massive chill pill to get out of its paranoiac ways

 

[Minister of Offence]

Hey guys, Stars fan coming in peace. Just had a question for you guys in regards to Erik Karlsson before he was in the NHL and the 70+ point player he is now. I guess my question is from a prospect perspective what was your expectations for him, or was he always expected to be a guy who would be able to put up big numbers (from when he was drafted to his first season), did he rise out of no where, or was it an expected debut by the time he was in the NHL? Any info would be great! Thanks

To put it simply, from the get go he was a defensemen doing things I had never seen a defensemen do. I thought there was something special about a 19 year old 165 pound defensemen from Sweden that had the balls to pull circus stunts on the blueline - even if they were "bad decisions".

I can only speak to what it looked like once he got to Ottawa in his first pre-season. He approached the game in a brash and risky style coupled with high end skill that may not have been seen from a defensive prospect in the modern era.

Once he got to Ottawa I'd say there were indications that there was a special level of potential.

I learned very quickly that opposing fans can't see beyond their own bias, and that most fans don't understand that high end skills transfer to offense and defense equally. Given an equal mindset and dedication, the higher skilled player will typically become the better defensive player. There's a limit to how much I want him to focus on defense, but my point is, he ended up learning to play defense more than anyone expected. And I still expect that to round out more.