The Golden Knights activated center William Karlsson from injured reserve before last night’s win over the Sharks, per the NHL’s media portal, and as evidenced by his pair of points in his season debut. Right-winger Victor Olofsson was placed on injured reserve in a corresponding move.
It’s all good news for Vegas, as Olofsson was already listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury. His IR placement is retroactive to Oct. 15, so he can come off IR anytime. The transaction doesn’t impact his timeline for a return in the slightest.
Karlsson’s return is a significant boon to a Golden Knights squad already leading the league with 4.67 goals per game. After yesterday’s 7-3 thrashing of San Jose, Vegas sits atop the Pacific Division with a 6-2-1 record and a +14 goal differential, third in the league behind the Rangers and Jets. Captain Mark Stone leads the league outright in scoring with 17 points (4 G, 13 A) in nine games, while Jack Eichel is tied for second with 15 points (3 G, 12 A). Vegas’ stars have been dominant enough early on to quiet any concerns about the significant hits to their depth scoring over the offseason. However, players like Brett Howden (five goals) and Pavel Dorofeyev (seven points) are also doing their part as they settle into consistent top-nine roles.
The 31-year-old Karlsson is one of two expansion draft selections remaining on Vegas’ roster, joining defenseman Brayden McNabb. Now in his eighth season with the team and his 11th NHL campaign overall, he’s coming off his best offensive showing since his unfathomable 43-goal, 78-point breakout during the Knights’ inaugural season. Last year marked the first time he’d hit the 30-goal and 60-point plateaus since then, and he also won a career-best 56.2% of his draws. Karlsson’s possession metrics remained strong, logging a 51.8 CF% and 57.1 xGF% with 46 blocked shots, placing 18th in Selke Trophy voting. It was the first time he’d received consideration for the award since the 2017-18 and 2018-19 campaigns.
With Karlsson back, Vegas has its full complement of centers – Eichel on line one, Tomáš Hertl on line two, Karlsson on line three, and Nicolas Roy on line four. That’s a rare sight for a team that’s been plagued by its big-name forwards missing significant time with injuries over the past few seasons. For now, though, they have no restrictions up front aside from Olofsson’s absence and remain out of LTIR.
Karlsson had been out of action since the Knights’ exhibition schedule with an undisclosed injury.