What's the deal with Andreas Karlsson?

Look, signing Karlsson for another season is not going to make Tampa Bay a Cup contender. Still, the Lightning signed a guy to a reasonable $500,000 contract after he showed he has some upside. Think back on last season. Was there anyone on the roster you believed had LESS of a chance to be back next season than Karlsson? He seemed lost out there, coach John Tortorella had no confidence in him and, when compared to his time in the Swedish Elite League where he was one of that country's top players, Karlsson was somewhat of a bust.

But teammate Marty St. Louis saw something and lobbied on Karlsson's behalf to get the guy more ice time. Tortorella put Karlsson up with Brad Richards on the second line in the final two games of the East quarterfinal against the Devils and Karlsson averaged almost 16 minutes, played on the power play, had five shots on goal and was 4-for-4 on faceoffs.

A few things here. First, Karlsson, 31, elevated his game during the playoffs which tells you he has something going on. And even though he played with Richards during the Devils series, expect during training camp to see him start on a third line at right wing with left wing Jason Ward and a center to be named later. The bottom line is he will get more of a chance to show what he can do. Hopefully, he will take advantage.

Now comes the debate. Had Tortorella used Karlsson more in more important situations, would we have seen some of those skills earlier? It's a kind of Catch-22, though. Karlsson wasn't used because he didn't show much, and when he was out there, he did not do well or give Torts an indication he deserved to be in positions of more responsibility. So, was there an error there? From my perspective, and I saw almost 70 games during the regular season, I don't think I would have played Karlsson more either.

Comments

[Phantom]

I'd be happy forget the grey areas of last season in the individual craft of certain skaters.
AK makes $7.3M less than the other guy that I'd like to see with fire in his belly. Since we seem stuck with both, Go Bolts!
I just wish the coaching could unleash the animal in some of the younger guys: Jones, Keller, et al. (Paging Mr. Andreychuk, Mr. Andreychuk please pick up the white couresy phone...)

Marty was pretty right on about Perrin, so lets give #24 another shot---and stitch a 'C' on the sweater of #26. Before he's done people will ask, "Mats Naslund, who?"

I admit that early on, I didn't see much effort and drive from Karlsson and wanted him on the same bus out of town that took Alexeev. He can add to his value if he does what I advised Craig to do last summer. Hit the weights and practice (a la Larry Bird--1000 jump shots a day) to become a tenacious face off freak like Peca or Sillinger.

After the forgettable adjustment season, welcome to the Lightning, Andreas. Now lets see some persistent nasty weather. The kids who are sick of riding buses all over the AHL are right behind you.

[BadBud]

"He can add to his value if he does what I advised Craig to do last summer. Hit the weights and practice"

How did that work out for you?

He was non=factor down the stretch

[Tony]

I liked AK's skills and I think he showed flashes of that throughout the year. On his side of it he had to adjust to alot (new country, ice size, and the NHL game).

BUT I thought he was soft on the puck. He lost nearly all the battles along the wall I saw him in. That will not cut it esp. on the 3rd line.

But we really need some decent cheap players to fit under our budget so he fits that bill.

Overall we could have done better but we also could have done worse.

[Satch]

Seems like a lot about a little. The guy didn't show much and was offered a contract at just over minimum wage. Seems about right to me. What concerns me is that he signed for a little over what Arty was offered. In my mind, Arty brings more to the team than this guy.

Phantom!! Want to see the animal in some of the young guys released? Sign Arty.

There's an old expression that if they don't bite when their puppies, they probably won't bite. We sign Karlsson, a toy poodle, for more than we offer a rotweiler like Arty. Makes no sense to me but then again, it doesn't have to.

[Tony]

Question.

Why does everyone love Arty? Did he throw nice big checks? Absolutely! Did he a penalty for over half of them? Absolutely! I am not saying they were penalties but they were called as ones.

he played part of one year with the Bolts with his production and suddenly thinks he is worth a million a year??

I say with that kinda attitude he can rot in Russia.

Torts preaches to these guys to go for the puck first and check second. Like it or not the bolts are not physical and never will be because of coaching philosophy.

[Tim A]

Let the R2 thing go, its dead, good bye, see-ya in Siberia. R2 wasn't important enough to make concessions for, he's not going to be superstar...not even a star and has little or no value in the NHL except he's big and nasty and gets alot of penalty minutes.
If Feaster wants to sign someone of R2's value, without the attitude he should sign Nick Tarnasky. Tarnsky was impressive for a rookie energy guy, plus he could drop the gloves and scrap like a junk yard dog. Tarnasky would be happy to sign for the league minimum and will add a physical intimidation factor when needed.
Forget the R2 thing...a million just isn't worth it, not even $600,000 for him.

[Joe]

Certainly reasonable people can agree that Andreas Karlsson should be named Captain of the 2007-8 Bolts. His average icetime correlates with Mr. Taylor's as does his scoring statistics. He is said to have demonstrated leadership qualities in the Swedish Elite League; he doesn't hog the spotlight from Vince and/or Marty; and, he is not known to say disparaging things about his teammates (although this might be because one cannot remember Andreas ever being interviewed by the media). Also, he is one of the few players toward whom Jay and Torts bear no hard feelings: come to think of it, 1/2 million bucks doesn't buy much animosity these days. Finally, neither is he a goalie who has disappointed the Lightning management nor a $7.8 million underachiever. The choice is obvious!!!

[Satch]

Seems like the point is missed here. Who said Arty wanted a mil a year next season? That's what he, or his agent, asked for before last season. His agent had several things to say but I never heard him say what they were asking for.

I think the point was made clear that we have only heard from his agent and not from the player himself. A question was raised about "is this arty talking or someone who represents him?" We don't know exactly what arty thinks about all this, he's not talking. His agent however, will spew anything to anyone who will listen.

Bash arty all you want but I will reserve judgement until I hear from him. The only mistake I've seen him make in his negotiations thus far is leaving it to a agent who clearly plays dirty. Parasite, scumbag, whatever you want to call him. This guy wouldn't let arty sign here for that amount even if he wanted. It might hurt his reputation as an agent.

But let's forget about that. Lets all chat nice about how the Lightning signed another 3rd/4th liner, who made absolutely no impact last season, for nearly minimum wage. How thrilling!!

[Satch]

Hey Joe...... I didn't miss your comments. Funny stuff!

[Phantom]

ROTFLMAO. Great stuff Joe! As soon as I buy the club, that agenda will be handled before lunch on the first day....LOL.

But I'm not buying until we first get a kung-fu defenseman and a couple of snipers.
Yeah, that'll happen...

We let Ruslan go for him??????????????

[Tim A]

In some recent comments made to David Pagnotta, the Assistant GM Claude Loiselle for the Lightning had some interesting comments about the Bolts and Andrea Karlsson.

"Andreas Karlsson is a very versatile player that can play center and wing," Loiselle said. "He has the offensive ability to play on our second line and is responsible enough to play on our third and fourth lines. He can kill penalties and play the power play. Basically, the type of player you need in a cap world."

If these are the type of players that the lightning are seeking to go with, it says to me that the money situation is almost set in stone. The lightning are going to be looking for the low end guys to fill voids while having their PR guys build them up with spiffy catch phrases like "fitting our system" and "Good for the Cap." The Bottom line I see is, the Bolts aren't going to spend allot of money and will probably look to sell the team.

I hope I'm wrong but so far I don't see any commitment from the owner or the GM to get the best product they can out there for the upcoming season.

July 1st isn't far away. I hope by then the real motive jumps out and tells the truth about the Bolts. I wish someone would tell them, either commit to winning or get out of the business.