DeBoer: Karlsson was healthy, dialed in 'for probably 6 weeks'

Peter DeBoer lamented the fact that Erik Karlsson wasn't at 100 percent during the playoffs, and the San Jose Sharks head coach said the superstar blue-liner wasn't fully healthy and thus at his best for much of the season.

"Sure (it's) disappointing, absolutely. Maybe the best defenseman in the world or in that conversation. But really, we had him healthy for probably six weeks and dialed in," DeBoer told the assembled media, including Sportsnet, following his team's elimination Tuesday night.

"The first two months of the season, he was getting used to us, (maybe) two-and-a-half (months)," the Sharks bench boss added. "I thought he got dialed in in January (or) February, and I thought maybe we were the best team in the league through that stretch and then he wasn't healthy again."

DeBoer declined to specify what Karlsson's most recent injury was, but the all-world rearguard was limited to about six minutes in the third period of Game 4 of the Western Conference Final against the St. Louis Blues.

He left Game 5 and didn't return after playing about 10 minutes, and didn't suit up for Game 6 on Tuesday, which the Blues won to end San Jose's season.