NHL Draft 2018: San Jose Sharks select Linus Karlsson in third round

The San Jose Sharks selected a Swedish centre with the 87th overall pick in the 2018 NHL entry draft. The Sharks traded the 114th and 145th overall pick in this years draft in order to draft their man.

Karlsson had a really good year playing in the SuperElit league (one of the top leagues in Sweden) and finished the regular season with 27 goals and 25 assists for a total of 52 points in 42 games.

He then carried his strong play into the post-season and tallied two goals and two assists for four points in six games. Karlsson would finish the year getting called up to the top league in Sweden, the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), where he would play 13 games for Karlskrona HK and would finish the season for them with one assist.

Karlsson is described as a player who “Has a nice shot and combines that with his ability to read developing holes in the offensive zone.. quality game from faceoff dots to end-boards” - Draftin Europe 2018

Karlsson, the 6-foot-1 star will be playing again for the Karlskrona HK in the Allsvenskan during the 2018-2019 season, Sweden’s second highest hockey league.