More than six seasons after he signed with the San Jose Sharks as a little-known forward out of Sweden, forward Melker Karlsson’s time with the team has come to an end.
Karlsson’s agent, Claude Lemieux, confirmed to this newspaper that Karlsson will play elsewhere next season. Karlsson had just finished a three-year, $6 million contract he signed with the Sharks in 2017 and is an unrestricted free agent. Friday was the first day of free agency in the NHL.
It’s possible the Sharks will be looking for one of their younger players to fill Karlsson’s role as a depth winger that can play a straightforward, physical game and can kill penalties.
Nicknamed ‘The Melkman,’ Karlsson, 30, played 396 regular season games and had 112 points with the Sharks after he signed with San Jose in May 2014. He also played in all 60 of the Sharks’ playoff games over four seasons from 2016-2019, and had five goals in their run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016.
Karlsson started the 2014-15 season with the Worcester Sharks, but was recalled on Dec. 9 of that season and made his NHL debut that night against the Edmonton Oilers, assisting on Barlcay Goodrow’s first career NHL goal.
Aside from a rehab assignment near the start of the 2015-16 season, Karlsson never played in the AHL again, and was a mainstay in the Sharks’ lineup as a third or fourth line forward.
Over time, especially under former coach Pete DeBoer, Karlsson became a steady two-way forward and one of the Sharks’ top penalty killers. From 2015-16 to the end of the 2019-20 season, Karlsson led all Sharks forwards in shorthanded time on ice at 527 minutes and 52 seconds.
Karlsson had played six professional seasons in his native seasons for Skelleftea AIK before he came to North America. His arrival in some ways began a wave of European free agents the Sharks would sign over the next few years to help offset their usual lower positions in NHL drafts.
In subsequent seasons, the Sharks would also sign Joonas Donskoi, Marcus Sorensen, Tim Heed and Radim Simek, who have all spent significant time in the NHL. Other signings like like Mantas Armalis and Filip Sandberg never panned out, while more recent acquisitions like Antti Suomela, Joel Kellman and Lean Bergmann are still in the organization.
The Sharks also let several other players go to free agency, including forward Stefan Noesen and Joe Thornton, who told Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic that will take some time before he signs to play next season.
Thornton is in Switzerland right now and told LeBrun he is contemplating playing some games in the Swiss League before the NHL season gets underway, possibly Jan. 1, 2021.