It’s not exactly a controversial statement to say that Erik Karlsson could be the Sharks’ most important player this forthcoming season.
He’s the highest-paid player on the team, and one of the most well-compensated in the NHL so there are naturally high expectations as a byproduct of that. The twist for this coming campaign, his fifth in San Jose, is he might not have been a more critical component of the team’s success before this.
When Karlsson played well during the early part of this past season, the Sharks remained on the fringes of the playoff chase. Now, the other defenseman with a Norris Trophy on his resume is gone, and Karlsson is clearly the top guy on the depth chart.
The Sharks have a new general manager, new coaching staff and a reshuffled roster. There looks to be, on paper, more depth at forward and in goal. The defense corps is a different story, with Brent Burns off to Carolina and Nikolai Knyzhov out for an extended period with an Achilles injury.
A two-time Norris winner, Karlsson is starting the fourth season of an eight-year contract. Like the other key veterans on the roster, his new boss gave him the opportunity to seek out a new home address if he wanted.
Karlsson spoke to The Athletic about his thoughts on all of the changes, his conversations with new GM Mike Grier and coach David Quinn and the direction of the franchise. And we talked about his health, which is sure to be a popular topic, given that he has missed 25-plus games in three of his four seasons with the Sharks.
San Jose had the makings of a competent top-four on defense for next season. But half of them are gone (or injured). Now what?
Part II of ‘State of the Sharks’ focuses on the defense corps, which has a lot of questions to answer.
Via @TheAthleticNHLhttps://t.co/jxZ3L3AyRJ
— Corey Masisak (@cmasisak22) August 15, 2022
Questions and answers were edited for clarity and length.
A lot has happened with the organization this offseason … what was your general reaction to all of the changes?
I mean, I think it was long overdue, probably. It’s just the way it goes. They’ve had the same things here for so long and they’ve been doing a good job at it, but obviously lately that hasn’t been the case. So you kind of figured when one domino fell that the rest would follow it. And that’s kind of where we’re at right now.
What was your reaction to the Sharks hiring Mike Grier as GM?
I don’t know. I played against him for a little bit and I have heard good things about him. I think, obviously, this is his first time being in the position he’s in right now. I think the only thing I can really say so far is he came in with his purpose and he did the things that he wanted to do, which is a good thing. It seems like he has a motive and a direction he wants to go. That’s all positive things. So you just hope that it all works out for everybody and for him.
It was kind of a big deal when Grier told the media that he was going to talk to the veterans about his plan and ask whether or not they wanted to be part of it moving forward. What was your conversation with him on that topic like?
It was pretty quick. He got hired so late in the process, and a lot of things around the league had already been in motion. He came in having to deal with a lot of things, so we didn’t have that many discussions early because he needed to do a lot of other things first. I’m sure we’re going to sit down now as we get closer to training camp when I’m here in person and talk a little bit more extensively about what he thinks and his ambitions for this organization moving forward. But the initial talks were good, and I’m excited to see some different things here and move this ship forward and in a little bit of a different direction.
What were your thoughts when Brent Burns was traded?
It is unfortunate, but at the same time, I think it’s one of those bittersweet things. I’m happy for him that he got the chance to go…
Read More: Erik Karlsson on Sharks’ major changes, Brent Burns trade, his health: Q&A