The Many Faces of Erik Karlsson

Attempting to unpack the young star's all-around game

Courtesy huffingtonpost.com

By Josh Duncan

I don't mean that face, although it is incredibly expressive, but what I'm referring to is the three different Erik Karlsson-related stories from last night. The first was about how the 23-year-old Swede was quietly atop the scoring race amongst defensemen once again. No more than an hour later I stumbled upon a tweet from Karlsson wishing Toronto Maple Leafs forward Dave Bolland all the best and a speedy recovery after the Leafs' centre suffered a laceration to his ankle on a hit from Zack Kassian on Saturday night.

Then finally I opened an article about Karlsson's teammate Craig Anderson being taken to hospital after being trucked by Dallas Stars rookie Valeri Nichushkin. Watching the video the first time it's hard not to notice the slick through-the-legs move Nichushkin pulled to get the puck out of a scrum on the boards that included Ray Whitney, Bobby Ryan and Jared Cowen. Then the ninth-overall pick from this past summer's entry draft puts a dirty backhand to forehand move on another Senators defenceman before tumbling into Anderson while trying to put the puck in the net.

 

You probably realized that I named the players in the random scrum on the boards but did not name the defenseman that Nichushkin undressed to get in all alone. Suspenseful I know. If you hadn't already guessed that unnamed player is the aforementioned Erik Karlsson. He put on another display of his poor defensive play and made it worse with a little footwork that will go unnoticed by a lot of fans. Once he realizes the crafty Russian has beaten him cleanly, Karlsson sticks out his right foot and trips up Nichushkin sending him flying into Anderson. Karlsson may have saved a goal, but it was a dirty play that may end up costing the Senators their starting goalie for an extended period of time.

However, the intent of this article is not to bash Karlsson. It's to look at the many aspects of his game and career thus far and what kind of impact he's had on the NHL in his short time in the league. Any defenceman who puts up 78 points in 81 games in his sophomore season and wins the Norris Trophy has a boatload of skill. There is no doubt that Karlsson is one of the most exciting players in the league. He has quietly jumped ahead in the scoring race amongst defenceman this year as well as he's amassed 15 points in 14 games so far, good enough to lead his team in points as well over a trio of forwards in Jason Spezza, Bobby Ryan and Kyle Turris who all have 14 points thus far. 

Courtesy nesn.com

Karlsson also leads the team in crappy moustaches.

The one incident in the young Swede's career that may overshadow all his exemplary play on the ice is his incident with Matt Cooke last year, when the then-Penguins forward severed Karlsson's achilles tendon while delivering a body check in the corner. Despite being ruled out for the rest of the shortened lockout season and the playoffs, Karlsson only missed 31 games and returned to put up eight points in 10 playoffs games as the Senators upset the second seed Montreal Canadiens before being knocked out by Pittsburgh in round two.

Despite his quick recovery and no signs of long term ill-effects from his injury, the play still brought up another big debate on player safety. This one revolved around protecting players as much as possible from skate blades and judging what is legal or not when dealing with foot positioning on body checks. This debate was brought up once again this weekend after Zach Kassian laid a very similar hit on Dave Bolland. This one did not have as dire consequences but Bolland is still out indefinitely (and hospitalized) with a laceration after the questionable hit from Kassian which was eerily similar to Cooke's hit on Karlsson.

Photoshopped by 5-Year-Old Josh Duncan

Similar to the debate on head shots, lacerations and other injuries that result from an errant skate blade is one of those things that is almost impossible to take out of the game of hockey. When the most important piece of equipment needed to play the game is two thin blades of steel strapped to your feet, cuts come with the territory. Beyond the option of wearing kevlar socks, which aren't worn by everyone and still aren't a full solution to the problem, the biggest discussion stemming from this topic is how to keep both skates on the ice while delivering a body check.

Is there a way to police the hitter's 'push-off' foot leaving or is there no possible way to actually keep both feet on the ice while delivering a good body check? The league may want to look at implementing stricter punishments for charging and re-defining the charging rule to include lifting only one foot off the ice if the lacerations continue to add up. It would not be a popular change amongst fans but it may be the only way to make skate blades less of a danger on the ice and would arguably decrease the amount of head shots we see as well.

*         *         *

Josh Duncan just shaved his whole face for Movember. You should too. You should also follow him on Twitter at @josh10duncan