Perfection is an almost unattainable standard. In fact, Winston Churchill called it the enemy of progress. But the Las Vegas Golden Knights look across the dressing room at teammate William Karlsson and what they see is perfection.
Boasting perhaps the best hair in the NHL, his infamous Stanley Cup parade speech, and the best scoring season in Golden Knights history, Karlsson is certainly an iconic figure in these areas.
But teammate Keegan Kolesar says Wild Bill is different from the players around him in one big way. Kolesar said Karlsson is a complete hockey player.
“I think you’ve heard other players on our team say that. (William Karlsson) Karl is just the perfect player. When you play with him, you don’t play well. It’s really difficult,” Kolesar said.
It’s true that when Karlsson is at his best, the Golden Knights are at their best. He led the team to the Stanley Cup Final in his first year with the franchise, scoring 43 goals. In his sixth year, when the Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup, he improved late and made it to the playoffs, scoring 11 goals and 17 points in 22 tournament games.
“(Kolésar) is just a nuisance. Yeah. He’s a pot stirrer, but that’s who he is. He said this on the radio the other day, and today he said this to me all morning. “What does it feel like to be a complete player?” All ironically. He’s probably a good actor as long as he’s sincere during the interview. What do you want me to say? You know, I’m the best ever. Give me the Hart Trophy right now,” Carlson laughed in his own highly sarcastic manner. “I always try to play a two-way game, try to do well on this side and try to get points on the other side.
Head coach Bruce Cassidy praises what Karlsson brings to the team.
“Well, I guess what Keegan is saying is that if you look at every aspect of Williams-Karlson’s game, he’s impressive: the forecheck, he’s got a good stick, he’s got good pace. Offensively, he can make plays. He has a great shot and can finish. He plays on the power play. We can put him on the elbow. It’s a luxury for us to be able to get a guy like Pavel Dorofeev and move Karlsson to the second power play unit. ” Cassidy said. “You have a player like him who has a great team-first mentality. He’ll play no matter who we pair him with, and we’ve had different wingers before, but he’s got that sense of responsibility and the 200-foot His play will make them better. When I watch him play, there is nothing I think we need to be careful about. there is no. He’s shown that here for years. Without players like that, we can’t win. He might be a little underrated league-wide. ”
Kolesar is known for telling jokes in the dressing room and is very close friends with Karlsson. So perhaps there was some levity in his praise of Carlson. But there’s also some truth to what his teammates say.
“Yeah, it’s definitely going to be a lot easier with Carly. Keegan is definitely right. William is just an all-round player. He’s great at everything. Right? We’re hoping he’ll score a lot of points. He’s always put up good numbers. He’s a very good defenseman,” said McNabb, who along with Carlson was an original member of the Golden Misfits. “When he’s in the D zone, he’s really reliable. Puck recovery and puck battles. He’s usually on the right side of that.”
For VGK captain Mark Stone, it’s Karlsson’s ability to make life easier for his linemates that makes him special.
“I think he’s just doing all the little things that you ask a player to do. Obviously, there are no perfect players in the NHL, but what (Kolésar) means is that (Karlsson) has improved his game in every aspect. He kills penalties. He makes plays. He’s on the power play. He’s playing five-on-five, three-on-three. He’s just touching every part of the game. That’s probably what he meant. “When you have a center that you can trust to be the first guy on the ice, the first guy off the ice, it makes some of the shifts a lot easier. That’s what I appreciated. I’ve only really played right field. You know, I’ve never really had to fill in the lower-end assignments. He’s as good as anyone on or off the ice. He’s good. He scored 60 points last year and had a million different linemates. So he can play with anyone.”
