CUP OF JOE: Starkey on sports in 400 words or less
When asked recently on live television what goes through his head when he sees Nathan MacKinnon coming at him, Erik Karlsson did not hesitate.
“Oh (crap), here we go,” he said.
Now imagine what opposing players must say when Karlsson comes at them these days. They are all at constant risk of appearing in the wrong end of a highlight clip.
Go ask Carolina’s Sebastien Aho what he thinks when Karlsson comes at him. Karlsson danced around Aho like an Olympic figure skater Wednesday — after keeping the puck in the zone like an Olympic soccer player — and rifled a wrist shot past Frederik Andersen for his second magnificent goal of the night.
The Penguins lost in overtime (obviously), but that did nothing to tarnish Karlsson’s latest masterpiece. He is playing by far the best hockey of his Penguins career, just when they needed him most. He has five goals and 16 points in 10 games in March, including eight points in the past three games. At this rate, he might hit the 70-point mark.
The breathtaking combination of shooting, passing and skating is something I don’t believe we have seen from a Penguins defenseman since Paul Coffey. There have been some very good offensive defensemen in between — Kris Letang, Sergei Zubov, Sergei Gonchar, Larry Murphy and others — but this is an all-time player in vintage form at age 35.
This is the Karlsson that has won three Norris Trophies (and finished second twice). This is why he makes all that money, with the highest cap hit ($11.5 million) of any defenseman in the NHL. This is why president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas traded for him back in August of 2023.
If it lasts, the Penguins are going to be that much tougher to eliminate in a playoff series, should they survive a tight race in the East.
I’m not sure why it took so long to unlock Karlsson, but the coaching change seems like a great place to start. Karlsson was like a bird with one wing under Mike Sullivan. Dan Muse has freed him. Muse is even using Karlsson to kill penalties (Karlsson’s shorthanded ice time, at just over two minutes per game, is the second-highest of his career).
It also helps that Parker Wotherspoon has played Ryan Clark to Karlsson’s Troy Polamalu. He is the perfect defense partner.
Is there any defenseman in the NHL playing better than Karlsson right now? I’d need to see proof.
In the meantime, let the highlight reel keep rolling.