Report: Erik Karlsson to determine San Jose Sharks future in “about a week”

Per a recent report from Sportsnet, San Jose Sharks star defenseman Erik Karlsson could decide on his future with the team very soon.

The San Jose Sharks face an offseason chock full of significant, high-impact decisions to be made. And out of all of the upcoming choices they must make, there is perhaps none greater than the one that concerns star defenseman Erik Karlsson.

While recent developments seemed to indicate that he would not, in fact, return to the Sharks, a recent report from Canadian sports news source Sportsnet seems to state the opposite — or at least that his mind might not be entirely made up yet.

"“The word is that Erik Karlsson is taking a long, hard look at deciding if he wants to stay in San Jose. And I think we’re going to know, in about a week, if he’s going to stay or if he’s going to investigate his other free agency options. He wants to win, the Sharks are perennially in it [and] they’ve made a good impression on him.”"

Karlsson was, of course, acquired by the Sharks just ahead of the start of the 2018-19 season as the team decided to go with the “all-in” strategy in an attempt to win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, Team Teal fell just short of that mark again losing four games to two in the Western Conference Finals to the St. Louis Blues.

Perhaps part of the reason for their struggles late in the season was the injury trouble that Karlsson ran into. The former Ottawa Senators defenseman missed 27 of the team’s final 33 regular season games with a lingering groin injury and was clearly banged up in the playoffs.

This all came to a head when he was forced to sit out of what would be the Sharks final game of the season after reaggravating said groin injury in Game 4 of the series.

Injuries were, unfortunately, a primary theme of Karlsson’s one-year tenure with the Sharks as evidenced by the fact that he really only played at full health for a good 6-8 weeks of the season. But during that time period, Karlsson was among the best defensemen in the NHL.

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The 29-year-old became just the fifth defenseman in NHL history to record an assist in 14 consecutive games as a result of his excellent play in December. And even though he finished with just 45 points, his lowest total since the lockout-shortened 2013 season, he also played in just 53 games which was again his lowest total since that same season.

Simply put, when healthy, Karlsson was as advertised — an offensively dominant, playmaking defenseman. And one of the very best at his position in the entire NHL.

Unfortunately, the Sharks now face a difficult decision. Do you offer a 29-year-old defenseman who relies on his speed and agility and is coming off an injury-marred season a seven or eight-year contract for max money?

Conversely, will Karlsson even decide to return to the Sharks when he very well could get more annual money per year with another team?

While San Jose is the only team that could offer him his desired eight-year deal, Karlsson will likely be a hot commodity on the open market and teams such as the New York Rangers are already reportedly lining up with a blank check in hand.

A lot remains up in the air but if reports are to be believed, we might just have all of our answers sooner rather than later.