“I gave it everything,” Karlsson said, exhausted after a four-point effort and nearly 17 minutes of ice time on Friday night.
Coming into training camp, he knew the situation: the Blue Jackets were loaded up front. They had an obvious surplus of forwards on NHL contracts, thus making it a rather clear-cut situation for himself or any of the organization’s young players looking to break through – long story short, if you’re going to make it, you’d better do something special.
From the first day of training camp, that was Karlsson’s goal.
He felt energized by the opportunity in a new organization, and given a taste of the NHL late last season and a full summer to get further familiarized with the team, this fall felt different.