Star defenseman Erik Karlsson does not want to become mired in a rebuild with the San Jose Sharks, and who can blame him? Karlsson signed a long-term extension with the Sharks, who not only had gone to the Western Conference Final in his first season, but were considered one of the most consistent franchises in the NHL and even North American pro sports overall since the turn of the century. While Karlsson certainly didn’t take a discount to stay in San Jose, inking an eight-year, $92MM contract that made him the third-highest paid player in the league at the time, there was an expectation that his re-signing would put the Sharks over the top and keep them contenders for years to come. Yet, last season was an unmitigated disaster, as the team finished with the third-worst record in the league, and so far this year things aren’t looking much better. San Jose is again a bottom-ten team in the NHL and unlikely to make the playoffs. People are starting to get worried, and Karlsson is among them.
Speaking to the media, including San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng, Karlsson stated that “Obviously, I did not sign here to go through a rebuild. [To] go through what I did for 10 years in Ottawa.” However, he did continue on more of an optimistic note. “We need to find a way to build with the core that we have,” Karlsson opined, “I do think we have a good group of guys here.” Karlsson is by no means stating that he wants to be traded, now or in the event that the Sharks continue to struggle this season. Instead, he is seemingly making a public outcry to his own front office, after GM Doug Wilson referred to a “reset” earlier this week, that he feels San Jose has a strong enough core to build upon moving forward rather than tear down and start over.
Karlsson’s comments clearly come from a place of emotion during a difficult time for he and his teammates. Case in point: he vastly overexaggerated the state of the Senators franchise during the early part of his career. Ottawa made the playoffs five times in Karlsson’s nine (not ten) seasons with the team, even coming just one win away from a Stanley Cup Final berth in 2016-17. Only in Karlsson’s final season did they devolve into one of the league’s worst clubs and were truly in need of a rebuild. However, in the midst of his third losing season in the past four years, it seems the losses are starting to weigh on Karlsson and he doesn’t want the team to make matters worse by stripping away the core.
But is he correct that the Sharks can return to relevance as currently constituted? The team has plenty of talent on paper with a blue line of Karlsson, Brent Burns, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Logan Couture, Evander Kane, Timo Meier, and Tomas Hertl up front. There are also some nice young pieces on the roster like Mario Ferraro and John Leonard, and some intriguing names in the pipeline as well. Yet, it hasn’t shown in their results. Additionally, San Jose has a considerable amount of their cap space for years to come tied up in this core and what space they do have needs to primarily be used to rectify a dire situation in net. The Sharks may find it difficult to add impact players elsewhere on the roster in the meantime. Even if there is space, the team may hesitate to add more expensive pieces to their underperforming group. So, if the team is good enough to avoid a rebuild as Karlsson states, it starts with he and his teammates playing up to expectations and showing just that. Otherwise, the Sharks’ brass will have no choice but to shake things up.
James Harden! LOL.
Future backend of Merkley, Burns, Karlsson and Pickle the later 3 making a lot of money isn’t the core to build around
All you had to do was shift Burns back to RW, CJ!
But seriously, I need to see analytics supporting/rebuking the decision to keep Burns with Karlsson on the backend because Burns is awful haha.
Fire Doug Wilson!
@lapcheung39 – You can’t – he’s got tenure! :)
If you guys haven’t read the full article on NHL.com, you should (by David Satriano and NHL.com Editor-in-Chief Bill Price) This excerpt is absolutely out there:
“I’m excited to continue the chase for the ultimate prize: the Stanley Cup,” Karlsson said after re-signing with San Jose. “Last year was an unbelievable run but we didn’t achieve what we set out to do. But the dedication I witnessed from my teammates, coaches, staff and organization showed me that we all have a great future ahead of us, and that we are capable of fighting for that championship year in and year out.”
“Last year was an unbelievable run…” – Yes, EK65, it was so unbelievable, that Sharks fans couldn’t believe that last place was even feasible! And, following it up this year with an attempted repeat performance is not what Dr. Rusanowsky, Dr. Hahn, Dr. Hedican, or Dr. Hannan prescribed, either. As we say on PHR here, OOOF! And, here I thought he was cleared from a concussion! Maybe the “doctor” resembled Doctor Nikolas Van Helsing from Cannonball Run/Cannonball Run II.
Karlsson re-signed in the summer of 2019. The “last year” he was referring to was the conference finals year.
Oh man Wilson is toast. What a shame, I’ve always liked you EK
the sharks issue is in net. plain and simple
Comedy gold. You’re part of the reason why they have to rebuild. No one wants that 11 million AAV. Remember when the Sens “lost” that trade supposedly..so much for that.
I concur. Every time a play takes the big paycheck home, expect that it hurts the attempt at a cup. Take thine pick, cuz you cannot have your cake and eat it.
Plus it was an aging team… how does that win a cup? Marleau, Pavelski, Thornton all key core players are gone and still good players but searching for their cups elsewhere.
Oops, Marleau is back.
@KAR 120C – “Plus it was an aging team… how does that win a cup? ” A memorable event, back in 1967 – 12 guys 30 or over!
Yes. Let us compare 1967 to 2021.
But point taken, once in history the 30+ aged team in a league of 6 won it all.
You have listed Kane as a core component in the rebuild, what a joke, he is a headcase, lol. More interested in gambling and avoiding creditors. Hahaha, good luck with this dream
Karlsson failed to acknowledge that he has been a part of the problem as he hasn’t played up to his paycheck since signing. But they never should’ve let Pavelski go. We love him in Dallas.
Maybe be better?
His contract is half the reason they need to rebuild
EK you choose $$$$ over winning when you would not take a more modest deal with the Lightning. The team effort in moderating salaries a bit to flesh out a deeper roster with better players does work, but only if one is committed to winning. He could be playing with his countryman Headman, but for a few dollars more . . .
Poor EK is going to have to play out the string and get paid 92 million on a rebuild. You really have to feel for the guy. He’s lucky that Skinner is in the league. Otherwise he would be part of the worst contract in the NHL.
This chics crazy. No contender is going to want to take on her contract.
This has no business being this funny hahaha
He is not going anywhere unless they take back a equally bad contract . He made a choice. He choose san jose.. He had other options. He took the big bucks. He has never been same since injury. Ottawa got lucky they did not sign for the big bucks like their fans wanted them too.