San Jose Sharks: Re-Evaluating the Situation With Erik Karlsson

Similarly, the trade rumors around Karlsson swirled and swirled for months until the Swedish native eventually found his way to California, in a deal that well, just… wow this trade has not aged well for the Sharks, but we’ll get back to that.

Going into the 2018-19 season expectations were high for Karlsson on a team admittedly more suited to his playing style, while Ottawa’s return of prospects and picks at the time was seen as just that, prospects, and picks.

A pending UFA at season’s end, Karlsson struggled at times in his first season in San Jose but ultimately put up a respectable 45 points in 53 games, along with returning to parts of his old self in the playoffs, recording 16 points in 19 games as the Sharks fell to St. Louis in six in the Conference Finals.

Then, everything else happened, which brings us to the present day, and the impending 2022-23 season. In that year’s off-season, Karlsson inked one of the largest contracts in NHL history at eight years, $92 million with an $11.5 million AAV and a full NTC, with Wilson essentially placing his hopes on Karlsson as the franchise’s future, and well, yeah, Doug Wilson is no longer the GM of the Sharks so I think we can surmise how that went. To say Karlsson has struggled since 2018-19 would be an understatement so large it wouldn’t even fit in the Sharks’ entire arena, and it’s something I’ve, as stated, discussed at length in the past. Ultimately, torn tendons in his left foot suffered while with the Senators in 2017-18 robbed Karlsson of one of the defining aspects of his game. His speed has led to a trickle-down effect that ultimately took the entire Sharks organization down with it.