Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
Any aspiring Calder Cup championship team needs a game-breaker, and the Abbotsford Canucks have one in Linus Karlsson.
The 25-year-old forward will surely be atop the priority list for the Charlotte Checkers as they prepare to face the Canucks in the Calder Cup Finals. Game 1 of the best-of-seven series is Friday at Bojangles Coliseum.
If there is an answer to containing Karlsson, the Tucson Roadrunners, Coachella Valley Firebirds, Colorado Eagles and Texas Stars all would have loved to have found it. Karlsson burned all four teams for at least one goal on this Abbotsford journey to the Finals. Through 18 games, his nine goals tie him for the Calder Cup Playoff lead, and he ranks third in postseason scoring with 17 points playing the right side of Abbotsford’s top line with Phil Di Giuseppe and Max Sasson. His work has also helped to fuel a potent Abbotsford power play that has clicked at 22.0 percent this postseason.
This playoff production has followed a standout regular season in which Karlsson came back ready to go after spending the final month in Vancouver, where he registered six points (three goals, three assists) in 23 NHL games this season. Karlsson stepped back into the Abbotsford lineup for the final weekend of the regular season and produced five points (two goals, three assists) in a quick road swing through Coachella Valley and Ontario.
“I’ve tried to go to the dirty areas,” Karlsson explained, “and the puck finds my stick. It’s fun to score.”
But this kind of production has been about more than the puck finding his stick. Karlsson does go to the hard areas of the ice. He’s not hesitant to use his quality shot, either. In a combined 50 regular-season and playoff contests, he has averaged 2.94 shots per game. And with a combined shooting percentage of 21.8 percent, that has been a strong play for him.
Still, all of that offensive success aside, rare is the player who is able to come out of the AHL and immediately get top-six opportunities at the NHL level. While being in Abbotsford affords him a chance to drive the team offensively, he averaged nearly 11 minutes of ice time per game with Vancouver. And first and foremost, a player at the NHL level must take care of defensive responsibilities. That combination of roles is something that has allowed Karlsson to keep his offensive play sharp while also rounding out a two-way game built for the NHL.
“I’ve been up now both last year and this year,” Karlsson said, “and I’m trying to grow into the league a little bit more. I feel like you get more confidence. You start to know the guys and feel a little more comfortable out there.”
Selected by San Jose in the third round of the 2018 NHL Draft, Karlsson landed with the Vancouver organization in a 2019 deal for Jonathan Dahlen. After winning rookie of the year honors in the Swedish Hockey League in 2021-22, Karlsson made his way to Abbotsford and produced a combined 47 goals in his first two AHL seasons. Now he has a chance to win a Calder Cup – as well as to further his case for full-time NHL work next season. Training camp, after all, is only three months away, and going through the rigors of the AHL postseason demands a significant physical, mental and emotional contribution – but it can be a journey that propels a player to the NHL to stay.
Karlsson and his teammates have been through a range of situations over the last two months. They have twice staved off elimination, winner-take-all victories over Tucson and Colorado. Texas pulled them into a physical, grinding six-game battle in the Western Conference Finals. And more challenges are likely on their way against Charlotte, but as the team prepared for the long flight east to begin the series, Karlsson believed that they are ready.
“I think we’ve been getting better every game,” Karlsson said, “and every time we’ve really needed to step up, we’ve done that. We have had some ups and downs, for sure, but every time we’ve had a bad game, I think we’ve stepped up the game after and showed how good we are.”
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
