Five Questions with Erik Karlsson

NHL.com's Q&A feature called "Five Questions With …" runs throughout the 2018-19 regular season. We talk to key figures in the game and ask them questions to gain insight into their lives, careers and the most recent news.
The latest edition features San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson.

SAN JOSE --Erik Karlsson insists he doesn't feel any different, any less comfortable, any less sure than any other October in his NHL career even though this one is different than all the rest.
He's in Northern California, in the Western Conference, living in a hotel and playing for the San Jose Sharks instead of in Canada's capital city, in the Eastern Conference, living at home and playing for the Ottawa Senators like he did for his first nine NHL seasons and 627 games.
The Sharks acquired Karlsson in a trade from the Senators on Sept. 13.
"I'm comfortable in the player and person that I am, and I'm comfortable in this team," Karlsson said. "I believe in this team."

Karlsson is three games into his career with the Sharks. It hasn't been the best start for him or San Jose, which would be concerning if it wasn't such a small sample size.
The Sharks have lost two of their first three games, including 4-0 to the New York Islanders at Barclays Center on Monday. Karlsson has one point, an assist, and a minus-4 rating, including minus-3 against the Islanders (two of his minuses have come on empty-net goals).
"We know we have high expectations of ourselves," Karlsson said. "People are going to talk about it, especially here in the beginning, a lot. That is just something that is not really going to bother us. The highest expectations come from within this room, and that's how it should be."
There's more to Karlsson's story this season than just what the Sharks do. He's in the final season of a seven-year contract and can become an unrestricted free agent after the season.
The NHL community wants to know what Karlsson's next move will be.
"Yeah, so does Erik Karlsson," he said, laughing.
Karlsson spoke more about his future and his expectations for the season in an interview with NHL.com.
Here are Five Questions with … Erik Karlsson:
When you left Ottawa, you said you were surprised. When you got to San Jose, how long did it take you to settle in?
"I settled in fairly quick. You went through all the emotions and trying to sort everything out. I had a few days in Ottawa before I could get here because of visa issues, so I had time to settle down and start looking forward instead of dwelling on the past."

You were an overtime goal away from getting to the Stanley Cup Final two years ago. Does this team, the Sharks, now represent that same chance for you? Do you see the potential everybody else does?
"Yeah, I think so. They've done a good job over, I don't know, the past 25 years, however long they've been in the League, of always being an established playoff team. They were in the Cup Final a few years back (2016) and they have a similar team, if not a better team now. The only problem is you have another 30 teams that are equally as good, so it's always a challenge every year. That's why it doesn't matter what you did the year before or two years before, you always have to start over every year. I feel like this group is dedicated to doing that, to starting off the season not looking too far ahead but trying to build. Once you get into the playoffs, you never know what's going to happen. You've got to have as few injuries as possible and you have to be as fresh as you possibly can. If we do that, and everything aligns, this group has a great chance of going all the way."
Since you've been here, has there been anything that has really caught your eye, something you didn't know, something about a certain player you didn't know? What has surprised you?
"What has surprised me? Yeah, I don't know what that would be. It's hard to just pinpoint one thing. There's a lot of things that have surprised me. I didn't really know much about the organization, the practice facility, what it was like to be here on a daily basis. I think that surprised me in a good way, coming here and seeing how nice and how good of a setup it is. I think the hockey culture is good and the dedication to being a good organization is huge. I wasn't sure about that since I'm coming from Canada, where it's all hockey. I didn't know how big of a difference it would be, but it kind of feels like it's the same, which is nice. So that I was pleasantly surprised about. And also these guys, they work hard, even though they might have some miles on them, which is also appreciated. I just feel that ever since I got here, it's just been easy. It's been an easy transition for me. It's not been too overwhelming. I think everybody in here, whether they're 22 years old or 40 years old, they've been very professional and they know what needs to be done to be successful. I feel like the group has a good sense of what needs to be done when times are tough."

You're in the last year of your contract. What's next?
"Yeah, as of right now I'm not worried about what's going to happen in November or December or moving forward. I'm worried about now. That's how I kind of approached every year, whether I was in Ottawa long term, just when I signed. I take it day by day. As I said, every season is a new season. It doesn't matter what you do the year before, what you did good or what you did bad. I'm excited to learn from the past and try to improve everything I can. As of right now, whatever my future holds, I can't tell you right now because I'm not really there."
The power play here in San Jose, the players on it, including yourself, Brent Burns, Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Logan Couture. I can keep going. Any team would take any of you guys on its power play and you might be the No. 1 guy on the power play. But it's not always so easy to make it work. How can you make it work here?
"You have to start building, and that's what we've been doing here. That's what we did in training camp. I'm sure there will be lots of changes throughout the year, whether it goes well or it doesn't. That's always how it's going to be. I'm excited to play with these guys and get the reads in where you just go out there and it's automatic instead of overthinking stuff. The simpler we keep it, the better it's usually going to be. Everybody on the power play has played on the power play for a long time, so we know what works and what doesn't. You know even when things are going well, you have to change things and do new things. It's not always about scoring goals either. You've got to create momentum for your team leading into the 5-on-5. We're excited about being a puck-possession team and, especially on the power play, having control of the game. It's not always going to be a goal that is going to be the end result. I think the guys know that, so the pressure from that standpoint should not be overwhelming."