Welcome to LWOS Hockey’s summer series, Call to the Hall, where we take a look at the next great player from each NHL franchise to get called to the Hockey Hall of Fame. There are a few caveats, the player must be active, and must have played 300 games (or 150 for goaltenders) with the franchise.
Check out the previous Call to the Hall articles HERE.
Call to the Hall: Ottawa Senators
Like most expansion franchises, the Senators got off to a rough start when they entered the league in the 1992-93 season before turning things around and becoming an established NHL franchise. With that stability came a number of great players, many of whom could be considered for the Hockey Hall of Fame.
First and foremost is naturally Daniel Alfredsson, but since he’s a) retired and b) a very strong hall candidate, he won’t be considered for this list. Zdeno Chara might also have been a good candidate to consider for the Senators, however he falls one game short of our criteria. That leaves a pool including, most notably, Jason Spezza, Marian Hossa, Dany Heatley (who, at one point, looked like a strong bet for the Hall of Fame), and current Sens captain Erik Karlsson.
Heatley is out, for obvious reasons, and Spezza as a multiple time all-star and with his career 0.98 points per game is an incredibly intriguing option, but neither have the pedigree of Hossa or Karlsson.
Hossa has simply been one of the best wingers in the NHL over his tenure in the league, as evidenced by his 1000+ points and three Stanley Cups as a key member of the Chicago Blackhawks. By the time he retires, it’s going to be very difficult for hall voters to look at Hossa’s resume and say he doesn’t deserved to be enshrined. That said, when it comes to comparing the likelihood of two players to make it into the hall, it’s also difficult to say that Karlsson doesn’t come out on top in this battle.
Erik Karlsson
Karlsson had just scored 37 points in 38 games and won a junior championship with Frolunda in his native Sweden when he was drafted by the Senators 15th overall in 2008, so his pedigree as a potentially elite offensive NHL defenseman was already apparent. In fact, Ottawa liked what they saw in Karlsson so much that they traded up in the draft to assure they could secure his rights.
He made his NHL debut just one year later, making the Senators roster out of training camp as a 19-year-old, though he would have to spend an apprenticeship with Ottawa’s AHL affiliate in Binghamton in the early part of the season. Ultimately he would play 60 games with the Sens in his rookie year, posting decent totals with five goals and 26 points.
He would take a step forward in his sophomore year, reaching double-digits in goals (13) and hitting 45 points – two standards which are expected of top-pairing offensive defensemen in the post-modern NHL. However, he also posted an absolutely putrid plus/minus of -30, which began a narrative which has plagued Karlsson throughout his career: “He can’t play defense.”
However, what Karlsson’s detractors like to conveniently overlook is the fact he’s been a positive possession player in terms of individual and relative possession numbers nearly every season, though he’s been plagued by a poor PDO. Simply put, while it’s true that Karlsson doesn’t have the makeup of a shutdown defenseman, he doesn’t really need to, because the puck is always on his stick.
Case in point, the following 2011-12 season, where Karlsson exploded for 19 goals and 78 points, good for 10th in NHL scoring (his 59 assists were 3rd) and tops among all defensemen. Only countryman Nicklas Lidstrom had scored more points (80) from the blueline in a season since the 2005 lockout, and while it was a close vote, Karlsson was rewarded for his effort with his first James Norris Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman. He would also be named to the NHL’s First All-Star team, as well as win the Viking Award in his native Sweden as the best Swedish player in North America.
Unfortunately for Karlsson and the Senators, his lockout-shortened 2012-13 season was wiped out after just 17 games when his achilles tendon was lacerated by the skate of Pittsburgh Penguins forward Matt Cooke, leading to an uproar in Ottawa, particularly from team owner Eugene Melnyk and General Manager Bryan Murray. For Karlsson, it was just a matter of healing and preparing for the next season.
In 2013-14, Karlsson picked up right where he left off, hitting the 20-goal mark for the first time, and again racking up 70+ points (74). Despite again leading all NHL defensemen in scoring, he would finish a distant 7th in Norris voting, allegedly due to the faulty bias against Karlsson’s defensive ability.
Which brings us to last season, where Karlsson, now the Senators captain, was again simply the best in the NHL at what he does. His second 20-goal season (a career-high 21 goals) and 66 points were both tops in the NHL among blueliners, and he took home his second Norris Trophy, becoming just the 13th defenseman to capture the trophy twice. He was also again named to the NHL’s First All-Star Team.
In total Karlsson has recorded 84 goals and 219 assists for 303 points in 397 NHL games, good for a 0.76 points per game average, and won two Norris Trophies – all by the age of 24.
Internationally, Karlsson has been a key piece of many strong Team Sweden rosters. He captured silver at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championships, where he was named the tournament’s best defenseman after scoring nine points in six games. Karlsson also came up big for Team Sweden at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, again being named the tournament’s best defenseman after tying for the the tournament points lead with the USA’s Phil Kessel, scoring eight points in six games, and helping Sweden to a silver medal. He also captured a bronze at the 2010 IIHF World Championships and has totaled 28 points in 35 senior-level international matches.
So, where does that leave Karlsson in the Hall of Fame discussion? In truth, he may already have the credentials needed for induction. The last player (discounting active players) to win the Norris Trophy and not be inducted into the Hall of Fame was current San Jose Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson, who captured the award back in 1981-82. Among players with two Norris’, from Bobby Orr to Rod Langway, all but Karlsson and current Chicago Blackhawks franchise d-man Duncan Keith are comfortably in the Hall of Fame.
More importantly, at just 25 years of age, Karlsson has firmly established himself as the best offensive defenseman of his generation, and it’s not really close. Since Karlsson entered the NHL six seasons ago, his 303 points are tops (Keith is 16 points behind at 287), and his 0.763 points-per-game is far ahead of second-place Kris Letang‘s 0.671 and Mike Green‘s 0.649 (Keith is 4th at 0.646).
So, combined with his sublime offensive numbers, his status as the elite offensive defenseman of his era, his individual awards, and his international success, the only question left to answer is just how much better Karlsson will be regarded after his career is over. Karlsson stands a good chance of hitting the 200-goal plateau, something only 20 other defensemen have done in NHL history, while 1000 points, a milestone only reached by eight defensemen in NHL history, isn’t out of the realm of possibility either. Additionally, would anyone be surprised to see Karlsson take home another Norris or two over the next 10-15 years?
Even if he never captures a Stanley Cup, something that has eluded him thus far in his career, the question for Erik Karlsson isn’t if he’s going to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of fame, but when.
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