The first time I saw these two players play was live at the 2008 World Juniors Hockey Championship. While all the hype was about Victor Hedman coming into the tournament, Karlsson and Subban were by far the standout players once the games had been played, along with the amazing performance of Jordan Eberle.
On Thursday evening they meet up again, and unlike in last year's playoffs, both players appear to be fully fit (although rumour is that Karlsson is still well away from 100% recovered from his Achilles tear, which is a scary thought).
Karlsson comes into the game with 17 points in 15 games, and Subban with 15 points in 16 games. All other contenders are well off this pace.
But I want to draw particular attention to Karlsson's numbers. 15 games in, during a period in which Ottawa have not played good hockey, Karlsson is on pace for 93 points. 93. I am always wary of projections, because there are a lot of games left to play, and chances are he will cool down, but if the team as a whole starts clicking as it was expected to do with the additions of Ryan and MacArthur, it is possible that his point output could also increase.
So keeping in mind that this is a longshot, how significant would a 93 point season from a defenseman be?
Put it this way, only 7 players in the history of the NHL have ever achieved it. They are:
- Bobby Orr
- Paul Coffey
- Ray Bourque
- Denis Potvin
- Al MacInnis
- Brian Leetch
- and Phil Housley
That is pretty good company. Looking forward to the Matchup Thursday night. Which one of these young stars do you think will put in the better performance?
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