Alfredsson had the honor of stepping up to the podium and making it official. Spezza, who was close to Murray, remembers how excited he was about the pick — “he’s like, ‘wait you see this kid, he’s dominant, he’s this and that, he’s the next great offensive lineman, he was a draft steal ‘” – but took it with a grain of salt, as most GMs feel strongly about the kids they add to the organization.
In October, the Senators traveled overseas to play the Penguins in the first NHL game held in Sweden. Since Alfredsson is from Gothenburg, home of Frolunda of the Swedish League, Ottawa played an exhibition game against the organization.
“Carl was actually playing for Frolunda then. So I remember being like, oh, this is great. We’re going to play against this kid. It’s going to be really exciting, it’s going to be cool to see him,” Spezza said, before adding with a laugh, “Then I saw him and I was like, he looks like the guy with the stick. I think, this is ridiculous! He looks like a 12 year old boy and this is the boy we’re all excited about?!
“When we go out on the ice, he’s trying to play, and we’re men playing against young men. I think this guy is going to get killed. The puck drops and he holds it the whole game. I’m like, well, we might have something here!’
Karlsson, who is from the small town of Landsbro, spent the 2008-09 season with Frolunda before coming to training camp ahead of the 2009-10 campaign. He made the roster as a 19-year-old despite his size, which Karlsson estimated was about 5-8 and 155 pounds, while the league average was closer to 6-2 and 235 pounds. Only Ottawa’s D corps was anchored by the likes of Chris Phillips (6-3, 219 pounds) and Matt Carkner (6-5, 229 pounds).
“He was telling stories about when he first came into the league and how different it was and how he was this small, scrawny guy and there were just a lot of big players, especially on their team,” Marcus Peterson said with a laugh. “So you can say it’s acting a little bit different, and I guess it always is. He was always himself. This is something that is high praise for him. He has always been himself and stayed true to himself.”
While Spezza said Karlsson is fearless, never backs down from opponents trying to run him over and plays through contact, “he knew, ‘I’m not going to come in and show that I can win battles in the corner,'” Alfredsson said . “He knew he had to do what he did best and try to do that and stand out that way.”
Karlsson’s speed is what dazzled his veteran teammates Alfredsson and Spezza the most at the time. “He was faster than everybody. At that point, I had never played with someone who skated as easily as him,” Spezza said.
“We heard how good he was offensively, a good skater, he was fast, but I never knew how fast,” Alfredsson said. “I’ve played with some fast players in the league before with (Marian) Hossa and (Martin) Havlat, but Erik was one of those players where sometimes you sit on the bench and you’re like, wow … he would do things I never did before I have seen.”
Like breaking through a guy and winning a forecheck all by yourself, something Karlsson still does today.
“Sometimes he turned the puck over, but he knew he could come back at any time and crash it,” Alfredsson said. “So he had a special ability and with his physicality and speed and hockey IQ, but I think his biggest asset is his mind and his belief because I think everyone wanted him to play differently . He knew how to defend himself and when he had to, he did.”
Spezza said Karlsson has changed the way people look at defensemen with his ability to be the second wave of an offense. “Especially in his early days when we were playing together, it was funny – I wasn’t really worried as a player that I was playing with on the line. If I played Karl, I felt like that would be the offensive element, so it allowed me to play with some guys in a more defensive style,” he said.
“He just brought an element from the back that was very different. There weren’t too many point guards back then, and he was that. It was really cool as a teammate, just to see him come on the scene and the impact he had in the league.”
Karlsson is grateful for the role that Alfredsson, his best man, and Spezza, his friend and “my boss now!”, played in helping him thrive, saying, “I think they probably protected me a lot more than I realized at the time. Looking back on it now, it’s obviously something that I see that probably helped me stay the course for as long as I needed to become the player that they hoped I would be.”
As Murray predicted, Karlsson has become the next great offensive defenseman. Last season in San Jose, where he played from 2018-23 after nine years with the Senators, he became the sixth defenseman in NHL history to reach 100 points in a season since Brian Leach had 102 points with the New York Rangers in 1991-92 .
He then became the ninth player in NHL history to win the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman three times, joining Hockey Hall of Famers Bobby Orr (eight), Doug Harvey (seven), Nicklas Lidstrom (seven) , Ray Bourque (five) , Paul Coffey, Chris Chelios, Pierre Pilot and Denis Potvin (three each).
“Obviously, he’s a game-changer and every time he has the puck, you know something special can happen,” Kris Letang said. “He puts every other team on their heels with his vision, the way he reads the game … he’s just been a great player for a long time. To score 1,000 and win three Norris, to score 100 points in a year is pretty impressive.”
Karlsson has accomplished what he has despite dealing with the aforementioned injuries, such as tearing his Achilles in a game against the Penguins in February 2013. As head coach Mike Sullivan said, it’s tough to play that many games in this league and it takes a certain level of stamina, competitiveness and passion.
All the while, “he continued to produce and he did so consistently during the game-changing game,” Sidney Crosby said. “I think just his ability to create plays, I remember the first game we played against him — I think it was a preseason game — he threw a saucer pass behind his net to the far blue line and it landed right on the one-man lane . It was unreal. I just think those kind of plays just became something you were used to seeing from him from the beginning.
“He also had a lot of tough matches, especially early in his career, and he continued to get that all the way through. So he’s been tested from the beginning until now, and he continues to be an amazing player in this league.”
