Linus Karlsson joins the show to talk about the first quarter of the season, what the team is looking to accomplish in the early stages of the rebuild, and his development story.
Getting to the NHL wasn’t a straight line, and Karlsson recounts a conversation he had with the Sedins two years ago when he was called up to Vancouver for 23 games. He focused on playing a simple game, and if he wasn’t scoring, looking for other ways to contribute, which in turn allowed him to maintain consistency in his game.
“I felt like I found a way with my hard battle, my wall battles, going to the net, crashing the net, all this stuff that makes me the player I am. I think that conversation we had two years ago really, really helped me because I had to find a way to contribute somehow,” Karlsson said.
The 26-year-old talked about the challenges of coming to North America to play hockey, but he stuck with the process, believed in himself, and he also credits his teammates in Abbotsford for the support of becoming a full-time NHLer.
“I guess my advice is just like stick with the process, believe in yourself, and I mean, also have fun. I think if I wouldn't have those teammates in Abbotsford and we didn't have that fun, I don't know if I would be here to be honest; it's tough. I moved here from Sweden, it's not been easy,” Karlsson said.
"When I came here the first time [I thought] ‘I'm going to play in the NHL right away,’ and then I got sent down, I played almost three years down there. So, I mean it's been tough and help from family, girlfriend, and everything, they helped me a lot through this too. It's not always going straightforward. Sometimes it takes a couple falls to get back up, and that's just a process.”
Karlsson is one of the alternate captains for the Canucks at home, and he’s learning more about leadership every day from the older players on Vancouver’s roster. He knows the impact of having good veterans to show younger players how hard they have to work to stay in the game and how to properly take care of their bodies. He credits his development to being able to spend time alongside the veterans in Vancouver and emulate what they do.
“You look after practice, they stay out there, you learn from them, and what they’re showing us now, hopefully, I can be the guy in a couple years they want to come to me and say ‘Let's do this,’ or ‘What are we doing right now?’ I want to be that guy, and they're doing that really well right now. Even Boes, like those guys, you see how they take care of their bodies, how they work in practice, and all these habits, and that's what I learned when I came up," Karlsson said.
Listen to this and much more as Karlsson joins Chris Faber on the latest episode of the Canucks Insider Podcast.
