OTTAWA – Erik Karlsson filled his trophy case by filling the net.
It often placed the 26-year-old Swede in the middle of an industry-wide debate about how best to measure a defenceman after he twice won the Norris Trophy while scoring more than anyone else at his position.
However, the one thought the Ottawa Senators captain couldn’t shake was the fact that his personal success hadn’t translated to more team success. That’s why he was so receptive to new ideas when head coach Guy Boucher was hired over the summer.
"I want to win games," Karlsson said Friday in an interview. "I want to get into the playoffs every year and I want to be a successful team. Whatever I have to do in order to do that, I will."
On the ice, he is a changed man.
Karlsson remains an offensive threat but not to the ridiculously high degree he once was. Boucher has challenged him to take shorter shifts and embrace a regular role on the penalty kill. Improbably, he’s among the NHL leaders with 103 blocked shots.
The risk-reward style that once defined him has been curtailed. For example, he’s no longer looking to join the rush in transition.
"Yeah, I don’t do that that much anymore," said Karlsson. "I don’t have to, luckily. We’re here to win games and that’s why we play. The system that we have has allowed us to do that in different ways than before.
"It’s a positive, it’s definitely been a change, but not in a bad way by any means."
Well, that depends on who you ask.
The Senators – and Boucher, specifically – are thrilled with the evolution. He sees a player willing to sacrifice for the greater good by taking fewer chances. A player, it should be noted, who still produces at an elite level with 34 points in 40 games.
"His defensive game, I think, is terrific right now," said Boucher. "He plays against the top guys and defends so hard because his shifts are short, because he’s able to go more often on the ice, because he’s got the energy to be able to do both.
"I think the fact he wants to lead, he wants his team to win, I think that’s the core of everything."
It has, however, had a measurable effect on the percentage of shot attempts Ottawa controls at even strength. That amounts to a blinking red warning light for those in the analytics community.
This is the first time in Karlsson’s eight-season NHL career that he’s been in the red in Corsi at 47.9 per cent. For added context, his previous year-by-year results: 54.6, 51.4, 55.1, 59.4, 54.1, 53.0, 52.1.
Not surprisingly, the Senators have also regressed as a team in that area while playing Karlsson nearly 27 minutes per night and trying to avoid a track meet at all costs.
For a coach entering a new dressing room it is imperative to get the influential players on board with the program as soon as possible. When it involves a commitment to defence, you especially need the offensive guys to buy-in.
In Karlsson, Boucher identified a willing pupil right from their first conversation.
"Well first, I asked him to be himself," said Boucher. "I kept hearing ‘OK, Erik’s got to do this, he’s got to change that, he’s got to become that.’ Every player evolves, but you don’t want players to change. …
"He’s the best offensive defenceman in the world and we’re not changing that."
Despite posting weaker results at 5-on-5, the Senators have made positive strides on the penalty kill. They were ninth overall entering Saturday’s game against Toronto and, when you couple that with their solid goaltending, it helps explain a 22-14-4 start to the season.
They’ve accomplished that while regularly deploying No. 65 while a man down.
"That’s something that I always wanted to play and something that I want to do," said Karlsson. "I’ve been embracing it and it’s been working well for us. Maybe previous years it hasn’t really been our strength."
It is over the final 42 regular-season games – and however many remain beyond that – where we will get a truer sense of the impact of Boucher’s defensive shift.
We will also see if Karlsson stays the course. He readily acknowledges that his mind occasionally wanders back to the days of roaming free before he snaps back to the new reality.
"Yeah, of course," said Karlsson. "But that’s just the way that we play the game now. Obviously, there’s times that you have to remind yourself that less is more. I think that everybody has really bought in to what Guy’s been offering us in terms of style to play. I think that it’s been very successful in most of the games and especially against good teams and winning the tight games.
"It’s hard to argue when something is working."
