Without a doubt, Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson is one of the most dynamic offensive presences from the blue line that the NHL has seen in some years. His ability to be a one-man breakout is unparalleled and he continues to put up monstrous offensive numbers from the back end.
Given the fact that he has come into camp with a different mindset than he did last year and he seems to have put some injury and personal issues behind him, there is no doubt that he should be a top contender for the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman, if not a lock. I think Karlsson might have his sights set higher than that.
He is dominant enough and the Senators are enough of an underdog heading into this season that if the Senators were to make the playoffs this year I would put Karlsson in the conversation for the Hart Trophy as league MVP. With the amount of ice time he is expected to get as well as the role he will be playing, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that Karlsson could put up 80 or even 90 points and be in on 40 to 50% of the Senators offense.
In Karlsson’s Norris Trophy winning season two years ago, he put up 78 points, but the big stat was the +16 rating. He was 8th in Hart Trophy voting that year, and that was in a season where Jason Spezza was 6th in voting. With the roster the Senators are going to be icing, if they make the playoffs it is going to be largely because Karlsson was a force at both ends of the ice. If Karlsson can put up 80 points and be a plus players, it could put him in the conversation.
Since 1943-44, there have only been two different defensemen to win the Hart Trophy. Some guy named Bobby Orr won three straight between 1970-72, and then Chris Pronger took it home in 1999-2000. It is almost as rare for a defenseman to win the Hart as it is for a baseball pitcher to win the MVP in the National League, and it looks like that is going to happen this year for the first time since 1968, so anything can happen.
It is perhaps too early to make such assumptions, but past history dictates that the sky is the limit with Karlsson, and when he gets that certain look in his eye you can’t bet against him.