Nobody expected Erik Karlsson to put together the season he did in 2022-23 - except perhaps Karlsson himself.
Entering the campaign, Karlsson's four-year tenure in San Jose had been mired by injuries. He played in only 211 of 290 regular-season games with the Sharks and was about to enter his age-32 season, when NHL careers typically begin to start going downhill, especially for those with a lengthy injury history.
Instead, Karlsson shocked the hockey world, racking up 101 points despite playing on a team that finished 29th in the standings. He became only the sixth defenseman to ever reach the century mark in points in a season - and the first since Brian Leetch accomplished the feat in 1991-92. At 32, Karlsson was the oldest to do it.
So, it's essentially guaranteed: Karlsson, heavily favored, will win the Norris Trophy for the third time in his career at the NHL Awards on Monday night. He previously won the award in 2012 and 2015 as an Ottawa Senator and finished as the runner-up in 2016 and 2017.
Karlsson is slated to become only the ninth defenseman to ever win the award at least three times. The other eight - Doug Harvey, Pierre Pilote, Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin, Paul Coffey, Ray Bourque, Chris Chelios, and Nicklas Lidstrom - are all in the Hall of Fame.
Throughout his time battling injuries, Karlsson says he never doubted he'd be able to regain his Norris-caliber form. But he also admitted winning the trophy this time around would be extra special.
"I think this one would probably mean the most," Karlsson told theScore in a phone interview in May. "It's been a while. I'm a little bit older now. I pause and reflect a little more than maybe I did in the past. It would be great, obviously something that I would like to happen. I'm happy where I'm at right now, whether I win or not. I feel good right now so I'll take that over a trophy. But it would be a nice thing to have in the cabinet at home."
Feeling 100% physically is a major reason why Karlsson was able to put together his historical season. He was finally healthy enough to play a full 82 games - his first time doing so since 2015-16 - and did so without limitations faced in past years.
"I feel good again," Karlsson said. "I feel like I can do all the things that I want to do - on and off the ice, physically. Running into some major injuries for a while is not healthy."
He added: "Anytime you have a major injury, it takes some time to adjust. You have to find a new normal. It had taken me a while to get back to that feeling again."
A clean bill of health allowed Karlsson to fly up and down the ice again, reminiscent of his younger Senators years. But with 14 years of NHL experience accumulated, he's also wiser than he's ever been. And that combination was perfect, leading to one of the greatest seasons by a defenseman in the last 30 years.
It was a treat for spectators to watch, but to truly get an understanding of Karlsson's brilliance, we spoke to a few of his defense partners from over the years who've been fortunate enough to have a front-row view of his game.
'Confidence and swagger on and off the ice'
Karlsson's on-ice exploits and overall excellence make headlines, but his leadership and intangibles are arguably as important to making him and those around him better.
Karlsson wore the 'C' during his final four seasons with Ottawa and he's been an assistant captain throughout much of his Sharks tenure. While driven and focused on the ice, he's described as a fun personality in the dressing room.
"He carries that confidence and swagger both on and off the ice," said Mario Ferraro, who's been a teammate and on-and-off-again defense partner of Karlsson over the last four seasons.
"He likes to be a little more loose in the locker room and I think that's really good for groups to lighten things up a little bit at times. He's a funny guy to be around, but when it comes time to get out there and put on a show, he's obviously very dialed in, so he knows when and when not to be serious, and when and when not to be a little looser. So he finds that fine line and it obviously works for him."
Karlsson has also become a mentor for younger players.
"He leads by example and the elite plays he makes on the ice. When he does be verbal, it's constructive feedback," Ferraro, 24, said. "As a younger guy from my experience, he's always helping me out with little pointers on how I can put myself in a better position on the blue line to get a shot off or ways to improve my game."
Playing with Karlsson isn't necessarily easy, though. Sure, he's like a quarterback or a point guard in that he always wants the puck and breakouts typically run through him, but playing with a future Hall of Famer can be a pressure-packed situation for an inexperienced partner.
Take Jaycob Megna, for example. He bounced around between the AHL and short stints in the NHL from 2017-21 until he solidified a full-time role on the Sharks in 2021-22. In 2022-23, he was Karlsson's primary defense partner until he was shipped to Seattle prior to the trade deadline.
"It's obviously a pretty cool thing," Megna said about first playing with Karlsson. "But at the same time, now I really have to make sure I'm doing what I should be doing. You can catch yourself just watching some of the stuff he does while you're on the ice with him. It was exciting, but at the same time it was a big responsibility."
Brenden Dillon, meanwhile, is no stranger to the top-pairing superstar spotlight. In addition to being Karlsson's primary partner in 2018-19, Dillon spent significant time with Brent Burns during their years together in San Jose, and with John Carlson in Washington during a two-year stint with the Capitals from 2020-21.
Yet even as a 12-year NHL veteran, Dillon marvels at Karlsson's competitiveness.
"He was a guy who wanted to get better, and a guy who demanded a lot. I think that something that brought the best out of the rest of his teammates was (us) wanting to get to that level," Dillon said. "You see how much he cares about winning, cares about making the right play, or the best play, and that's infectious. When you're as good of a player as he is, and you're just a gamer night in and night out, that spreads throughout your room, for sure."
'So gifted'
Intangibles are important, but they only take players so far. At the end of the day, you have to be monumentally skilled to be one of the all-time greats, and Karlsson is.
The Swede, who turned 33 in late May, still has all the physical tools. He remains an excellent skater, even though groin and foot injuries have robbed him of some of his younger explosiveness. He's also got the softest hands, which allow him to dance around opponents, and a deadly accurate shot, which helped him pot a career-high 25 goals last season.
"He's just a guy that is so gifted," Dillon said. "Such an unbelievable player."
And according to his past partners, it's Karlsson's hockey sense and on-ice vision that truly put him a notch above the rest.
"There are very, very few defensemen in the league (who) have vision like Erik does," Ferraro said. "He's able to find open plays that you can't even see when you watch the play afterwards on the replay."
Walter Gretzky used to tell Wayne: "Skate where the puck's going, not where it's been." The Great One stands alone, one of one, but there's no doubt Karlsson has a similar sense of anticipation that only the all-timers possess.
"Just his ability to see the next play before it happens," Dillon said. "Before he would even get a pass D-to-D from me, or from one of the forwards, or on the breakout, he basically knew where the five guys on the other team were. It's not like he was watching a bunch of video - that was the way he thought the game. That was normal for him."
Gretzky failed when he tried his hand at coaching the Coyotes from 2005-09. After all, it must've been difficult to teach things that came so naturally to him.
The same might apply to Karlsson. Megna believes it may be tough at times for Karlsson to fathom why his peers can't think the game on the same level he does.
"It's not that nobody else can make that play or execute it - it's that not many other guys would see it," Megna said. "I think that's probably his greatest asset. For him, at times, it's probably frustrating that guys don't see certain things that he sees. It's just the nature of the beast, I'm sure.
"There's a few other guys in the league that can do things like that, but there's not many, and especially from the back end. I don't know if I've ever seen somebody execute at the level that he did this past year."
Making 'em look silly
Coincidentally, two of Megna's six regular-season games with the Kraken came against the Sharks. So, while he experienced the luxury of playing with Karlsson for 48 games in 2022-23, he also learned how difficult it is to defend him.
"He's a guy you can't 'just be physical with' - that's not going to work, he's too good of a skater," Megna said. "You don't want to run at him to try and take away his time and space - he can make guys look pretty silly. So it's more of a contain sort of thing. (If) you take care of him to try and limit his chances, most nights you would do a pretty good job of shutting the team down."
Dillon, a Winnipeg Jet over the last two seasons, has had his fair share of battles against Karlsson, too.
"Everything ran through him. He's similar to a guy like (Connor) McDavid. He's similar to these top-end players where you really have to queue on them - the MacKinnons and what not," Dillon said. "Ultimately, they're such a big part of their teams that if you can shut them down, you're going to have a better chance to win the game, for sure.
Regardless of the game plan, Karlsson will get his offensive chances. He's one of the best defensemen in the best league in the world, after all.
"His vision and ability to read off of you, I think those are the ultimate compliments (on his game)," Dillon said.
'I want to win'
Despite Karlsson's 2022-23 heroics, he was unable to will the Sharks out of the NHL's basement. And as San Jose continues its rebuild, there's plenty of speculation Karlsson could be moved.
Trading Karlsson isn't easy. He carries an $11.5-million cap hit, has a full no-movement clause for the next four seasons, and the cap ceiling has barely risen since the pandemic.
The Sharks were unable to facilitate a move during the season, but Karlsson and the club are reportedly aligned on finding a trade partner this summer.
San Jose was able to trade Burns last offseason, and he thrived in Carolina. Karlsson, who spoke to theScore during the conference finals, said he was happy for Burns and rooting for him during the playoffs. But he also honestly expressed a little bit of jealousy.
"Selfishly you'd like that opportunity yourself, as well," Karlsson said. "I want to win. I feel like I have what it takes to play on a winning team, on a championship team. That's always going to be my ultimate goal, to do that on a yearly basis moving forward."
Karlsson last played in the postseason in 2019. Wherever he lands, he remains a generational player, and one who's ideally competing when the stakes are highest.
There's plenty left in the tank. Karlsson left no doubt about that.
