Erik Karlsson has been on the ice for 11/13 goals against so far this series.

Midnight Judges

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Be sarcastic all you want, but I guarantee you would trade your #1 Dman for a Healthy Karlsson, any day of the week.

Okay, agree, but what about the actual Karlsson? His value - here in reality - has historically been a bit less, eh?
 

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Might as well argue that gravity that doesn't exist if you insist that Karlsson (when healthy) is bad defensively.
 

Oak

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The thing that has surprised me the most about Karlsson is that a lot of the mistakes he has made have been mental. I can understand playing injured and being slow or unwilling to battle but I don't get the dumb plays.
 

fasterthanlight

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This story is pretty simple. EK65 isn't an injury prone player, in general. He is injured right now --- so, he is playing worse than usual. He's better offensively than defensively, and, thus --- his defensive play is bad right now. I wouldn't be surprised if he goes in for groin surgery on friday.
 

Mafoofoo

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The thing that has surprised me the most about Karlsson is that a lot of the mistakes he has made have been mental. I can understand playing injured and being slow or unwilling to battle but I don't get the dumb plays.

It’s because he doesn’t give a flying f*** about this season. His goal to get it over with ASAP so he can go get wined and dined by GMs before signing a big contract.

He’s shown he doesn’t care about anything but attention and money. Maybe he was great back in the day but the current Karlsson is not worth what he’ll get.
 
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Magicman

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Mar 18, 2008
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I texted a GM buddy when Karlsson was rumored to be traded.

Me-"You looking at AK?"
GM-"Nope, AK is the pretty girl you bring to the dance, but not the one you take home"
 
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BattleBorn

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It’s because he doesn’t give a flying **** about this season. His goal to get it over with ASAP so he can go get wined and dined by GMs before signing a big contract.

He’s shown he doesn’t care about anything but attention and money. Maybe he was great back in the day but the current Karlsson is not worth what he’ll get.
Karlsson has had an injury question mark on him for two years. It takes a little faith to think he's top level EK all the time, and now he's considered injury prone since he's gathered another issue. Dude is hurt, probably has been since him leaving Ottawa wasn't a real concern.

That being said, I think it's a little disingenuous to say he doesn't care about this season and he's just looking forward to the next contract. There's some real, actual question marks on him now and he's going to want to play as well as he can to eliminate those. So far, it hasn't worked. However, he's a competitor, and him doing well now will definitely help him in the future. I don't think it's crazy to think his future contract has shrunk a few million AAV and perhaps even shrunk a year or two on term due to the injuries.
 

Number8

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I hate it when great players — and EK is a great player — get slagged off for injuries.

Give me a healthy EK on Boston every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

Please keep in mind that EK has always been a classy player and less than a year ago he and his wife went through a terrible tragedy. No idea if this has impacted his season, but IMO he’s a guy who deserves a break, not crap.
 

Henkka

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Come to Detroit with Nyquist. We have that 18 million for that duo.

And let's rise on the top again.

Detroit Sweden Red Wings - home sweet home.
 

TrufleShufle

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Aug 31, 2012
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I texted a GM buddy when Karlsson was rumored to be traded.

Me-"You looking at AK?"
GM-"Nope, AK is the pretty girl you bring to the dance, but not the one you take home"


I wouldn't take Alex Killorn to a dance nor to my home. I would take Erik Karlsson to both places though.
 
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PatrikBerglund

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Karlsson had 2 assists and +3 tonight.

But one thing that stood out for me.

In the past it was always easy to spot Karl on the ice as he had a unique way of skating - that always differentiated him from all other players.

These days he looks very mundane and almost awkward on the ice.

If it is his heel, damaged foot, Cookes slice or the torn groin, who knows, but all movement looks forced and unnatural.

Sad to see a talent like that struggle doing what he usually did so naturally and gracefully.
 

Agent Zub

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Jan 2, 2015
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Karlsson had 2 assists and +3 tonight.

But one thing that stood out for me.

In the past it was always easy to spot Karl on the ice as he had a unique way of skating - that always differentiated him from all other players.

These days he looks very mundane and almost awkward on the ice.

If it is his heel, damaged foot, Cookes slice or the torn groin, who knows, but all movement looks forced and unnatural.

Sad to see a talent like that struggle doing what he usually did so naturally and gracefully.

that behind the net turnover to vlasic is a prime example.

a healthy karlsson picks that up and is skating away and creating a chance on the vegas net while their forwards are still wondering what happened.

thats what made ek great and he just cant do that right now. hes obviously crippled, thats what a groin injury can do.

it speaks to his ability when he is playing awful and still has 7 points in 5 games. ek is the best worst player sometimes and its why deboer is riding him when he should be benched or at least playing sheltered minutes.

i hope we see him at his best these playoffs, it seems like he is getting his legs under him but still a lot of bad.
 
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koyvoo

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Nov 8, 2014
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I don’t get it. Considering he’s playing at 60-70% health at tops, I thought he was fantastic.

Given his state especially, he’s not in the lineup to provide Rod Langway type D, he’s there to provide offense and with 7 assists in 5 games he’s done that in spades.
 
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heysmilinstrange

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Nov 10, 2016
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Steven Stamkos plays like ****. Leading his team to get swept agains ****ing Columbus. Crosby is held pointless sucking it up agains NYI. But who does HF turn to rag on? An injured Karlsson who missed several months of play before being thrown into the playoffs. A Karlsson who actually leads his team in points as a ****ing defenceman! The NA bias is ****ing sickening.

Both Stamkos and Crosby had threads discussing their poor performances. Crosby had several, not sure how many Stamkos had. When great players appear to be performing poorly, they get judged, but it's not malicious.
 

neXis

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Jan 3, 2016
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Why are people raging on the guy with 7 points in 5 games who is clearly playing injured?

His defense is god awful. Have you not watched him play "defense" in the regular season or the these past 5 playoff games? He's awful at it. Putting up points doesn't make you a better defenseman. But apparently that is the benchmark for winning a Norris these days instead of a blend of the two.

His offense is amazing, no one is disputing that. He's clearly the fourth forward on ice for SJ.
 

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