Erik Karlsson's atrocious defending vs Hawks (3 examples)

[stator]

What's interesting, the Sharks' defense payroll is greater than the Sen's payroll for their forwards. Yet, that defense is at the bottom of the league right now. Second worse in the league giving up high danger shots.

 

[BlueMed]

Compared to other elite defensemen, Karlsson and Burns are 1 step ahead offensively but 2 steps behind defensively. If you do the math, that means they aren't as good...

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

$12 million if you want to round to the closet million. Sharks overpaid has been my view. I don't think the Sharks could get a 1st round pick in a trade today. Partly due to his $11.5m long term contract, and the other is he's not proved to be back at 100% from his injury previously as a Sens.

My fellow Sharks fans in our home forum likes to point out his play last season. Yes, he did have a good few weeks before he was injured.

They also like to point out his skating and passing. Yes, he's good at it, but in comparison, the other teal defensemen are mediocre at it. Sharks have not had a good skater/passer since Dan Boyle left the Sharks.

I'm still waiting to see this "ice tilting" capability of Karlsson that some had talked about. So far, he's overpaid just like Doughty.

I'm a fan of a divisional rival who would like to see the Sharks struggle.

That said, of all of our divisional rivals, the Sharks are probably my favorite and I like a lot of their players.

I thought at the time that the Karlsson signing might be a catastrophe for them. Even if we assume that he is going to find his game to some degree this year, and I think he will, what will we be looking at in 8 years?

 

[Mick Riddleton]

He is an elite offensive deeman, too bad he got those injuries. In his own end he is not elite but seems like a great guy.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Karlsson is a good example of how people generally judge defense too much on mistakes. His defensive play is about killing space, not allowing room to carry the puck over blue line, standing up at the right moments, covering passing lanes, making reads to stop rushes in the neutral zone. If I recall correctly, he has significantly more pass blocks into the slot than any other d-men in the league. All of this is generally based on playing the odds in terms of risk vs reward, and it can come back to bite you. There's also, as @Caesar Rex pointed out above, some pretty deep valleys in his defensive play.

I find it interesting that it's become part of the consensus that d-men who don't make a lot of mistakes aren't necessarily great defensively because of it. Everybody knows that d-men who surrenders the blue line like it's contagious will likely not be beat wide, but they'll contribute to bad defensive results in the process. Somehow that doesn't apply to the other side of the spectrum.

Every defenseman makes multiple mistakes every single game. The good ones mostly avoid making those critical errors both with and away from the puck that immediately create high quality chances for the other team. Erik Karlsson has always made significant mental mistakes in his own zone.

 

[Puckluck13]

Can someone make some gifs of tonight's game. Atrocious is being kind to his defensive play.

 

[skyo]

Karlsson is like Barrie, albeit a better scorer, but both are not good defensively.
Only 7 more years at $11.5M per for EK.

And now Bruce Garrioch getting in on this:

 

[Samsquanch]

In his own end he is not elite but seems like a great guy.

I dont think you were even joking here, but it was pretty funny putting these two things in a sentance together.

And unfortunately I've heard that while hes well liked by his teammates, hes not the nicest guy to the general public in some stories from Ottawa.

Which is a shame for the money he makes, and the amount of fans that he has.

 

[Mick Riddleton]

I dont think you were even joking here, but it was pretty funny putting these two things in a sentance together.

And unfortunately I've heard that while hes well liked by his teammates, hes not the nicest guy to the general public in some stories from Ottawa.

Which is a shame for the money he makes, and the amount of fans that he has.

I got the non elite in his end thing right, man minus 4 tonight, he is an extra forward.

 

[SensFactor]

I've said it even during his time in Ottawa, his creativity and possession skills are incredible. One of the best I've ever seen. However, he is avg at best defensively. He makes the same bone head mistakes and bad pinches still today. He floats consistently in his own end and gives up net position without a fight.

With his foot surgeries, I expect his defensive weakness to grow each year as he gets older.

 

[Frosty415]

@super6646

Did you forget this thread existed?

 

[super6646]

@super6646

Did you forget this thread existed?

No, I did not. And since the mods kept mine open, I think it is worthy of its own discussion.

 

[Panthaz89]

Karlsson doesn't care about defense until the playoffs even then he isn't all that great. He'll usually score more than he gives up to make up for it.