Erik Karlsson reaches several exclusive NHL marks
Senators D-man finishes top-5 in scoring, leads in assists
Dave Cameron, who may or may not be coaching the Ottawa Senators in October, spent the final four games of the regular season evaluating the talent pool of his underachieving NHL team.
One player the second-year bench boss didn't have to assess was all-star defenceman Erik Karlsson, who reached a couple of milestones as the regular campaign concluded Sunday night.
Karlsson earned his 66th assist in Saturday's 6-1 dismantling of the Boston Bruins, giving the 25-year-old a career-high 82 points in his seventh NHL season, good for fourth in league scoring.
It's the first time a defenceman has finished in the top five of league scoring in 30 years, since Edmonton's Paul Coffey was third with 138 points in the 1985-86 season. Karlsson is only the fifth blue-liner in league history to acheive the feat.
No blue-liner had reached 80 points since Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidstrom racked up that many with the Detroit Red Wings in 2005-06, while Brian Leetch recorded 85 points with the 1995-96 New York Rangers.
Karlsson also topped the Sens in scoring for a third consecutive as Mark Stone finished second, 21 points behind. Only one defenceman in NHL history has led his team four years in a row.
Karlsson will begin next season with 100 regular-season goals, one behind Wade Redden for the franchise lead.
Only 1 D in NHL history led his team in PTS in 3 straight yrs: Denis Potvin, NYI, who did 4 years in row (1973-74 to 1976-77) <a href="https://twitter.com/Media_Sens">@Media_Sens</a>
—@NHLNetResearchDefensemen in last 20 years who averaged a point per game (min. 65 games). Good company for Erik Karlsson: <a href="https://t.co/KiseIa4K0S">pic.twitter.com/KiseIa4K0S</a>
—@CraigCustanceA year ago, the Senators captain took scoring honours with 66 points to Stone's 64 and in 2013-14 he posted 74 points, eight more than former team captain Jason Spezza.
Karlsson also shattered a 42-year-old record. Bobby Orr, considered by many to be the greatest defenceman to ever play the game, was the last to lead the league in assists, collecting 90 in 1973-74 when he was second in overall scoring (122 points).
Karlsson led all players with 66, three more than San Jose's Joe Thornton and six more than Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks, the NHL's top point-getter with 106.
"He plays the game the way it should be played," Coffey, who is second to Ray Bourque in all-time points among defenceman, told Postmedia in February, in reference to Karlsson. "The way that Karlsson plays is all hard work. … He wants to make an imprint on the game and he gets a lot of respect from me."
What makes Karlsson's season so spectacular is the fact scoring across the NHL is on the decline for a third straight season and at its lowest since the 2003-04 campaign.
Furthermore, the power play is usually the bread and butter for offensive defencemen like Karlsson, but Ottawa ranked 26th among 30 teams this season with a 15.8 per cent success rate and failed to score with the man-advantage in a franchise-record 14 games in a row.
Imagine where Karlsson's point total would be if top centre Kyle Turris didn't have his season end after 57 games because of a high ankle sprain. Or, if forward Clarke MacArthur, a 16-goal scorer last season, wasn't sidelined with a concussion for most of this season.
Karlsson might have several more points if the Senators spent more time near the opposition's net rather than allowing an NHL-high 32.8 shots per game.
Ottawa will not be a post-season participant for the fourth time in the last eight years. The Senators made it last year on the final day of the season, thanks to a 21-3-3 run.
It was not an award-winning season this time around, but in less than three months Karlsson might have something else for Ottawa fans to cheer about: A third Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenceman.