Karlsson won't request trade from Sharks: 'I committed here a long time ago'
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While the San Jose Sharks traded defenceman Brent Burns to the Carolina Hurricanes earlier this off-season, Erik Karlsson has no plans to be the next veteran out the door.
Karlsson confirmed to The Athletic that he has not requested a trade and added he's hopeful for the future of the team under new general manager Mike Grier.
"No, I committed here a long time ago. It didn’t work out the way we wanted it to early on. There’s a lot of things that probably played into that. I’m not going to get into details about that," Karlsson said in a story posted Wednesday. "But I am excited for the future here now. I hope we can move in the direction to be successful again. Is that going to be this year? I mean, who knows? But I do think something good can come out of here."
The Sharks have missed the playoffs in each of the past three years after a streak that saw them miss the postseason just once in 15 seasons from 2004 to 2019.
Alongside the team, Karlsson has also largely struggled in his four seasons in San Jose since being traded from the Ottawa Senators in 2018, missing 25 or more games in three of the four years.
The 32-year-old said he may take a more conservative approach to playing through injuries this season in hopes of recovering faster rather than attempting to play through pain. However, when asked whether he saw a possible career resurgence coming under new coach David Quinn, who oversaw Adam Fox winning a Norris Trophy with the New York Rangers in 2021, Karlsson was not optimistic.
"No, not really. Maybe if I was a younger player, it may be a little bit different. I’ve played for a lot of different coaches. I kind of am who I am at this point," Karlsson said. "I’ve just got to get back to being that and try and make everything work within everybody else. I think that goes for a lot of guys here.
"We’ve kind of been stuck in the mud for a little bit, and it’s going to be nice to see if we can get something going here and get everybody on the same page to play a sustainable game where we have a chance of making the playoffs."
Signed at a cap hit of $11.5 million through the 2026-27 season, Karlsson posted 10 goals and 35 points in 55 games last season. A veteran of 838 NHL games, Karlsson topped the 60-point mark in five straight seasons with Ottawa - including a career-high 82 points in 2015-16 - before the trade to San Jose, but has been unable to eclipse 45 points in a season since.