Confirmed with Link: Canucks sign F Linus Karlsson to ELC

[HockeyNightInAsia]

Karlsson is a project--acquired for guy in Dahlen who wanted out of the Canucks (Utica) organization. Interestingly enough he (Dahlen) is back in the Allvesnskan, lighting it up again, which doesn't speak volumes about the competitive level of the league.

Realistically, Karlsson should be making appearances in the top-tier SHL by now....which is why he's probably been passed in the prospect depth chart at center by Costmar who's already playing minutes in the SHL and Zlodeyev, who was supposed to play his first KHL games this week until he got hurt.

I suppose there's always a possibility that Karlsson is a late-bloomer. But at this point, he's a bit of a longshot to be signed imo.

I can agree to the new toys looking good. But I also think you are selling the Allsvenskan a bit short here, both in terms of the quality of it, as well as the “choice” to play there rather than SHL. We all know by now it’s a relegation system there. Players may prefer to be loyal to certain teams, some of which may have lesser resources, but I’d assume the gap is not as big as say NHL vs AHL.

Of course, we also know the special case of Petey being undervalued because of the Allsvenskan, but then also switched team to make sure he got SHL time before coming over.

 

[VanJack]

I think at one time the Allvenskan was a productive league for graduating Swedish hockey players to the higher echelons of pro hockey. But looking at the current game highlights, and measuring it against the record of previous seasons, I'm not sure the league is what it used to be.

Dahlen might be a good litmus test. He's a top-five scorer in the Allvenskan, but produced next to nothing for the Utica Comets or San Jose Barracuda in the AHL.

On the plus side, Karlsson is still only 21. But he needs to get moving either to the SHL or the AHL if he gets signed by the Canucks. And he needs to produce in those leagues first to still be considered 'a prospect'.

 

[JimmyJiveJones]

^i wouldnt say Dahlen produced next to nothing for the Comets and Barracuda. 59 GP 15G 20A 35Pts combined.

 

[F A N]

One key difference between playing in the Allvenskan vs SHL is that SHL requires a full year's commitment. Karlsson, I believe, can be signed to an ELC and come to North America to play if there is an AHL season.

 

[Phil McKraken]

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[bossram]

One key difference between playing in the Allvenskan vs SHL is that SHL requires a full year's commitment. Karlsson, I believe, can be signed to an ELC and come to North America to play if there is an AHL season.

Yes, that's why a lot of prospects are choosing to play in the Allvenskan vs. SHL - they can come back to NA if there's a season.

I think what's under discussion is how translatable high Allvenskan production is. It's nice to see guys like Karlsson producing very well, but he's 21 now and doesn't have much experience at higher levels. We need to see if he can carry it forward.

 

[HockeyNightInAsia]

Went on a bit of web search to see cases of Allvenskan players jumping to NHL/AHL. 10 years ago there were a few notable examples jumping over at age 20 (Backlund, MaJo, Forsberg) and having instant success too, but recent Swedish players seem to all played at SHL (I may have to dig deeper). So either or both Allsvenskan has diminished in quality or prospects are more aware of the need to play up before coming over.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

Where does this guy rank on the Canucks' prospect depth? I'm guessing it goes something like:

1. Podkolzin
2. Hoglander
3. Any of DiPietro/Rathbone/Rafferty/Juolevi/Woo/Lind in the #3-8 spots
9. Lockwood/Karlsson/Mcdonough/Utanen in the #9-12 spots

 

[lawrence]

^i wouldnt say Dahlen produced next to nothing for the Comets and Barracuda. 59 GP 15G 20A 35Pts combined.

he's not built for the North American game. Expect him to return to Sweden or the KHL to play out his career. Career European player level player. North American game too rough and hard on him.

 

[HockeyNightInAsia]

Where does this guy rank on the Canucks' prospect depth? I'm guessing it goes something like:

1. Podkolzin
2. Hoglander
3. Any of DiPietro/Rathbone/Rafferty/Juolevi/Woo/Lind in the #3-8 spots
9. Lockwood/Karlsson/Mcdonough/Utanen in the #9-12 spots

The top 8 seems pretty consensus. I am the Rathbone fan who would pit him with Hoglander.

Personally I am sure Karlsson is well among the next tier. Just for reference I checked Pronman's list (who in September ranked Canucks #3 organization for U23, if you recall) and he listed Karlsson along with Lind, Focht and Costmar as the next tier. McDonough should be well in this too. If we include Lockwood shouldn't we include Michaelis as well?

 

[The Iron Goalie]

1 PP goal so far through one period of action today. That brings his totals to 7G 14A 21Pts in 21.33GP with 16 of those coming in his last 11GP (off the top of my head).

Edit - Just picked up a primary assist.

 

[timw33]

Another 1G 2A today, 20 points in last 14 games, and 25p in 24GP on the year in the Allveksand league.

 

[VanJack]

Karlsson is showing slow, but steady improvement. Canucks will have contract slots opening up at the end of next season. If the NHL and AHL are back to normal by then, they might sign him and bring him to NA for a look.

Stats in Allvesnskan are fine, but the only way you can really judge is when a forward comes over and plays on the smaller ice. That's the mistake we all made with Dahlen.

 

[Tables of Stats]

Karlsson is showing slow, but steady improvement. Canucks will have contract slots opening up at the end of next season. If the NHL and AHL are back to normal by then, they might sign him and bring him to NA for a look.

Stats in Allvesnskan are fine, but the only way you can really judge is when a forward comes over and plays on the smaller ice. That's the mistake we all made with Dahlen.

Yeah, you need good Allsvenskan stats to even have a shot at the AHL, let alone the NHL.

 

[Bitz and Bites]

He’s probably worth a contract slot and have him play in the AHL next season since we always seem to lack centres there and need to see if he can play the North American game.
The other option is to have him play in the SHL next year but that’s a full year commitment and we might need some cheap depth here with the cap squeeze and some bad contracts on the books plus EP and QH with big raises.

 

[VanJack]

The evolution of Linus Karlsson is living proof why you really have throw 'scoring stats' out the window when you're assessing young players. When the trade was made, Dahlen looked to be a light-years better prospect than Karlsson. At the time, Canuck fans were scrambling on Hockey DB and other sites to figure out who this kid actually was.

But now just a couple of years later, Karlsson has probably caught up and passed him. And the fact he plays center makes him even more valuable. I guess that's why they call it 'player development'.

 

[Tables of Stats]

The evolution of Linus Karlsson is living proof why you really have throw 'scoring stats' out the window when you're assessing young players. When the trade was made, Dahlen looked to be a light-years better prospect than Karlsson. At the time, Canuck fans were scrambling on Hockey DB and other sites to figure out who this kid actually was.

But now just a couple of years later, Karlsson has probably caught up and passed him. And the fact he plays center makes him even more valuable. I guess that's why they call it 'player development'.

Dahlen is scoring at over a 2 ppg pace in the same league. If he can figure out how to become coachable Dahlen still has a shot at breaking out at the NHL level.

This isn't to rain on Karlsson either, his ppg pace is an excellent sign it just isn't in the same offensive league as Dahlen.

 

[DonnyNucker]

Dahlen is scoring at over a 2 ppg pace in the same league. If he can figure out how to become coachable Dahlen still has a shot at breaking out at the NHL level.

This isn't to rain on Karlsson either, his ppg pace is an excellent sign it just isn't in the same offensive league as Dahlen.

Dahlen is also older and already crashed and burned. At least Karlsson still has a shot at contributing

 

[Tables of Stats]

Dahlen is also older and already crashed and burned. At least Karlsson still has a shot at contributing

The age gap is only a year. At the same age, Dahlen posted 36 G - 41 A - 77 P in 55 GP. If he can find out why NA coaches don't seem like working with him and fix that he's still an excellent prospect.

 

[DonnyNucker]

The age gap is only a year. At the same age, Dahlen posted 36 G - 41 A - 77 P in 55 GP. If he can find out why NA coaches don't seem like working with him and fix that he's still an excellent prospect.

That’s a load of bs. He quit on three organizations. Some kids have the mental fortitude and some don’t. Doesn’t matter how much talent a prospect has unless they are willing to work for it.

 

[krutovsdonut]

The age gap is only a year. At the same age, Dahlen posted 36 G - 41 A - 77 P in 55 GP. If he can find out why NA coaches don't seem like working with him and fix that he's still an excellent prospect.

dahlen is two years older than karlsson. they two calendar years and 23 months apart. in a normal year there's a decent shot karlsson would be in the ahl this year at the same age as dahlen was.

karlsson last year was 40 points in 48 games but was 1.5ppg to end the year after a trade. dahlen at the same age with timra was 44 points in 44 games with a similar hot finish.

i don't know what dahlen's damage is. he's now over 2 ppg with timra. he obviously belongs at least in the sel, and might easily have perservered in the ahl. instead he's got the most acute case of big fish/little pond-itis i have ever seen.

 

[Fatass]

The age gap is only a year. At the same age, Dahlen posted 36 G - 41 A - 77 P in 55 GP. If he can find out why NA coaches don't seem like working with him and fix that he's still an excellent prospect.

It’s kind of up to the player to produce what he needs to at the highest level. Dahlen does well against lesser (than the NHL) competition. I think he lacks the mental toughness needed to produce in the National League.

 

[timw33]

 

[Canucks LB]

Our Swedish scouts doing it again, aren't they?

 

[F A N]

Dahlen and Karlsson are completely different prospects despite both having skating concerns. Dahlen's NHL future, if he ever makes it, is that of a goal scorer and he does have higher end offensive tools. Karlsson, while his offensive production is nice, can develop into a two-way 3rd line C type and contribute in ways that Dahlen can't. At the same age Dahlen was the better offensive prospect. But Karlsson can play C and has the frame to translate his defensive game to the NHL.

The Canucks got a recent 3rd round pick for a former 2nd round pick that didn't work out. That's typically good value and Karlsson isn't some obscure name that knowledgeable Canucks fans have never heard of either.