It’s time to stop expecting Karlsson to transform Sharks originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
“They’re asking them to do too much.”
That’s something I heard from NHL scouts sitting in the SAP Center press box, watching the Vegas Golden Knights outlast the San Jose Sharks 4-2 on Tuesday.
It’s everywhere on this San Jose roster: 32-year-old Erik Karlsson being asked to carry the offense as if he was 22.
Mario Ferraro being asked to play 22-plus minutes a night and quarterback the Sharks’ second power play unit.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Matt Benning, being asked to anchor the middle pairing.
Logan Couture, being asked to carry winger du jour on the second line, be it Noah Gregor or Steven Lorentz or Oskar Lindblom or Kevin Labanc or Matt Nieto.
Stanley Cup-winning fourth-line center Nico Sturm being asked to shoulder 3C. Evgeny Svechnikov, on a two-way contract, riding shotgun.
This isn’t disrespect to any of these players: To a man, they’ve performed admirably in their elevated roles. They’re all good players who you can win with.
But let’s face it: San Jose is 2-7-0 for a reason, part of that being how many players they have in a little over their heads in their current roles.
