Erik Karlsson Is So Damn Back, Becomes First NHL Defenseman To Put Up 100 Points In The Past 30 Years
At one point Erik Karlsson was the most electric defenseman in the NHL. From the 2011-12 season to 2017, he was a 2x Norris Trophy winner, a 4x Norris Trophy finalist, led the NHL in points by a defenseman 4 times, and also led the 2014 Olympics in points. This dude was out of this world.
Then he got traded to San Jose and things just never seemed to work out. The Sharks have missed the playoffs in each of the past 3 seasons. He's only played between 50-56 games in each of the past 4 season before this year. Some of that is due to injuries, some of it is due to the pandemic. New offensive defenseman demons like Cale Makar and Adam Fox have taken up the throne in the meantime. It all just added up to everybody almost forgetting about Erik Karlsson, and thinking the weapon we once knew was all but lost.
THINK AGAIN, BITCH!
Brian Leetch did it in the 1991-92 season. Nobody not named Brian Leetch, Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey, Al MacInnis or Denis Potvin has ever done it before. And Erik Karlsson just became the 6th defenseman all-time to have a 100-point season in the NHL. What a freak. What a beauty. 32-years-old and he just did something that hadn't been done since he was still a baby shitting in his diapers.
And what's insane is that the Sharks are currently sitting in 29th place in the league. They'll probably end up with the 3rd overall pick in the draft and take Matvei Michkov, who won't even be allowed to come to the NHL for another 4 or 5 years. It's a crime against humanity that the Sharks didn't move Karlsson at the deadline to a contender. But they're about to miss the playoffs for the 4th straight year. Time to move Erik Karlsson this offseason and see if we can't get him a couple more cracks at the Cup before his time is up. 2x Norris Winner, lead the NHL in points by a defenseman now 5 times, just the 6th defenseman ever to put up 100 points. That's a Hall of Fame career, but his name on the Cup would be a great exclamation point.