Is this the year Karlsson starts breaking records?
Ottawa Senators defenceman Erik Karlsson is 21 years old. And tiny. He’s also the undisputed No. 1 on this team, showing poise beyond his years and blue line scoring the Senators haven’t seen since Wade Redden was good at hockey.
Ottawa Senators defenceman Erik Karlsson is 21 years old. And tiny. He’s also the undisputed No. 1 on this team, showing poise beyond his years and blue line scoring ability the Senators haven’t seen since Wade Redden was good at hockey.
Karlsson played 28:11 against the Minnesota Wild Tuesday night in all situations, a number that is slightly inflated by the fact it was an overtime game. Still, the next closest player (at 22:49) was Sergei Gonchar, who was brought in to play that top dog role while the young Swede found his game.
That has proven unnecessary. Karlsson was the Senators’ lone all-star last season, putting up 45 points in 75 games in his second season in the league.
This year, he has five points (all assists) in his first three games and the trust of coach Paul MacLean. The team’s shift to a hard-skating, puck possession game can only benefit his numbers.
Here are the Senators’ defensive scoring records:
Goals: 19 (Steve Duchesne)
Assists: 46 (Norm Maciver)
Points: 63 (Maciver)
Career points with Ottawa: 410 (Wade Redden)
Given Karlsson’s rapid development over his first two seasons, it appears plausible that the first three records could fall this season, with the last one within reach before long (Karlsson has 75 points in 137 career games).
The biggest obstacle is probably health, given Karlsson’s size, though he has great awareness on the ice and rarely gets caught in a bad spot.
So I put it to you Sens fan…is this the year Ottawa’s defenceman scoring records fall?
Sure hope not, the kid’s head is swelled enough as is.
Don’t want him getting Drew Doughty money and the inevitable no-movement clause (they should call them Murray clauses).
Best thing for the team is a 30-35 point season, maybe 40 with a nice -15 or -18. The team can then excoriate him for his defensive play and lowball him in contract talks.
I have to echo the previous comment. The best thing that could happen for this kid and the Sens is a repeat of last year, 40-45 points.
He’s likely to get overlooked for the All-Star team this year, as the Sens will not be any good, and their lone rep will unquestionably be Alfie, so we won’t have that hanging over any contract talks. And, keep in mind, the kid is -2 after 3 games…his history shows that this trend is likely to continue. That would leave him with a nice -50 number to reflect upon at the end of the season.
I like him, his game is great to watch, but he needs to be here for a while and perform at a high level before I am ready to annoint him the new king, not to mention “the undisputed No. 1 on this team”. I mean, there’s a whole lot more to playing defence in the NHL than just points, ask Mike Green. If it’s a slick skating point getter we want, move the kid to forward and give Lee back his spot, but if you want him to stay in the rear, he has a long way to go before I’m ready to annoint him as anything more than another product of his “me first” generation.
Karlson is an offensive asset at times but at all times he is a defensive liability. He is too small and frail to be considered a reliable defenseman and his style of play in his own end is very weak. If this is the Sens best defensemen we are in big trouble. The only record KARLSON will set is the minus category in the plus minus, if I am not mistaken he led the league last year in this category as the worst for goals against in spite of his offensive stats. The worst possible pairing in the NHL is Karlson and Gonchar (that’s another story)
Wow. Such great positive energy coming from these Sens fans.
Karlsson is playing extremely well all over the ice, and having him put up points can only help this team win. Look at the stats for last season, and tell me scoring wasn’t one of our biggest issues. I’d rather worry about paying a player who DESERVES to be paid, and came through our system, then rolling the dice in open-free agency with other teams. Don’t wish poor play on this great kid so that he is easier to sign. It won’t help the Sens make it back to the Stanley Cup!
Keep it up Karlsson, I expect at least the 63 point total to be challenged!
Yeah, 63 points and a -35 at the same time….Great stats. Wade Redden’s worst year here he was -1 with 36 points. His best, he was +35 with 50 points. Wake me when the kid hits those kind of numbers, then we’ll talk about him as the undisputed #1.
And don’t talk to me about this not deserving a team crap. It’s entertainment, you want support, accept the criticism at the same time like all entertainers have to.
Idiots that don’t deserve a professional hockey team. All of you. Except Cory Kennedy. I hope Karlsson grows to the size of Chara and breaks all of Gretzky’s records for another team. Actually, no, for the same team, but after it moves to a different city where fans will appreciate it and not think they know better than the experts who run it. You people don’t deserve talent, you don’t deserve a hockey team.
Mike I can’t possibly agree with you more (although I obviously don’t agree with the team moving). Anyone that can’t see that this kid is an ALL WORLD talent knows nothing about hockey. 21 yrs old and puts up 45pts on one of worst teams in the NHL last season. Sure, bring up his plus minus, let’s consider the whole team’s plus minus from last year. I’d like to see what Chara’s +/- would have been playing with Philips, Kuba, or Gonchar. Give your heads a shake…
The only record Karlsson will break this season is in the minus category. He is still unproven and hasn’t given anyone reason to believe he’ll be anything more than a mediocre player in the NHL.
Ottawa wins their first game and three negative comments at this time. Hard to believe. Anyway their will not be any more comments from this nd. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THIS BLOCKED.NO MORE COMMENTS.
DOES TORONTO HAVE THE SAME TYPE OF SITE???????
he wasnt at his best last night but hey you will be better next time!!! go erik i believe in yah!
these commenters are unproven internet users, and we have no reason to believe that they are anything more than mediocre. if these are the best fans that ottawa has to offer, boy are we in trouble.
Instead of talking about Karlsson “breaking records”, most fans would settle for playing half-decent. He’s been a huge liability and tends to panic whenever he has the puck. Prediction: he’ll end up as another wasted Senator experiment.
These comments are absolutely pathetic. Bringing up how he lead the league in minus is hilarious Because we all know the major reason for that was our all star goaltending Hahahah. Now to comment on the -2 in 3 games am I the only one that sees how brutal those goals were because of shake goaltending don’t get me wrong I do like Anderson bit he’s been shaky so far. Hate on Karlsson all you want he’s not even close to being as useless as Gonchar and Kuba. Those two who dog it all game especially when they are in the defensive zone. So to all those sens fans who are ripping on our best defenseman right now go be a leafs fan and cheer for someone useless like Phaneuf.
I think that Karlsson will be just as bad as Phillips is. Calling this kid “all-world” is disrespectful to players out there who actually have talent. And can someone please give him a sandwich!
Now sitting at -3 with 6 points…..means he’s been on the ice for 9 goals against in 4 games…..The kid is soft defensively, anyone arguing against that doesn’t pay any attention. Blame the goaltending all you want, the fact is, the kid can’t stop a peewee player from walking out of the corner and standing alone in front of his own net. Hey Erik, see that big room with all the weights in it next to your dressing room? Try stepping foot in there once in a while.
I’m not saying he sucks and let’s throw him in the canal, all I’m saying is let’s wait and see before we anoint the kid the new king of the promiseland.
The posts by the aforementioned fans are strange because they don’t answer the question: will he break these records (notice how +/- isn’t mentioned ANYWHERE)
Goals: 19 (Steve Duchesne) Maybe not this year but he could be close…
Assists: 46 (Norm Maciver) Yes, but again not by a whole lot
Points: 63 (Maciver) I figure he’ll hit 65
Career points with Ottawa: 410 (Wade Redden) Yes, I think we’ll hang on to him
He’s got elite vision, skating, passing, and shot. Not elite +/- on a struggling team and not elite shutdown skills. Anyone arguing that this has to do with the question raised by the article is avoiding the question of how great his offensive production has been/will be.
It is quite possible that MacIver’s record could fall this season (63 pts in 92-3). Hard to believe that record from season one has lasted 20 years!! Way to go Norm! lol
When I write this comment we have Dec 26th.
Erik Karlsson has 33 points, which is ~40% of points by Ottawa defenders.
33 points/36 games = 70 points for the season?
He has a +1 record.
He has made some spectacular plays from the blue line – the comment that he panics when he has the puck is very weird…
Well, it seems all the negative comments about Karlsson were completely wrong. Leading D-men in scoring and a major reason that the sens are fighting for a playoff spot in what was supposed to be a throw away/rebuilding year. He will definitely break the assists record, and probably the points one, but probably not the goals. And already seen major improvement from the start of the year until now in his defensive play. He’s never going to be a shut down defenseman. But he is already an elite offensive defenseman and god damnit is he fun to watch!