This should be made clear. He is a defensively responsible player who was once quite good on both ends of the ice and versatile enough to serve as a scoring threat and shutdown forward. The key word, however, is once. He’s not quite all that good anymore, and this season probably encapsulated his strengths and limitations best.
Karlsson was a near-constant presence in San Jose’s lineup, taking shifts on both the third and fourth line to the tune of roughly 11 minutes a night. He was a constant presence on the penalty kill, where he continued to put in quality defensive shifts on a league-average shorthanded unit.