Claimed:Nicklas Karlsson Biography

[Lunaro 208]

 

Name: Nicklas Karlsson

Position: Defense

Handedness: Right

League: VHLM

Team: Bern Royals

Age: 18

Nationality: Swedish

Jersey Number: 4
Height (inches): 6'0
Weight (lbs.): 185 lbs

 

Nicklas Karlsson was born to play hockey. He was privileged enough to be born into a family that could support his passion for hockey. He started skating at a young age and was able to take all lessons and clinics related to hockey he could find. Every weekend he would go to the local rink and practice or scrimmage with friends.

 

Karlsson enrolled in a high school with an excellent hockey program. He was taller than average but lanky and like every other kid loved to score and play the offensive side of the game. His coach had him try playing defense one time and his reach and size gave him the advantage over the shorter forwards. He was an excellent skater even in high school as he had spent many hours practicing skating until it was as natural to him as walking and running. He played as a defenseman in high school but led the power play and helped his school win back to back titles in his senior years. Karlsson ended up on many scouts reports.

 

 

After high school Karlsson had a decision to make. Should he continue his education and apply to college program or attempt to go pro. If he was to go to college he could choose to move to the States or Canada where there are more prestigious hockey programs. Ultimately he decided to declare for the VHLM Dispersal Draft and forgo college. Heading into the draft Karlsson was rather unknown next to the bigger names such as Mikaelson and Zoidberg. Karlsson was selected in the third round to the Bern Royals at 27th overall. He was the third highest 0 TPE player to be selected in the draft behind his close friend Okranitz at 24th overall and Jack Harkness right before at 26th. Shortly after joining the team Karlsson quickly impressed team management and his new team mates and was announced as an alternate captain for the Bern Royals. Karlsson has played most of the season so far with Jaime Hill and has learned a lot from Hill as he's continued to develop his game.

 

Pros:

• Defense- Having played defense for 5 years in high school he has developed solid defensive instincts and positioning. He has an active stick and his excellent skating ability allows him to catch and recover from bad pinches. He is willing and able to sacrifice his body to block shots and is very vocal on the ice on defense. Karlsson will make sure everyone is on the same page and that each man knows his mark as well as communicating with his goalie as to how the defense is to operate.

 

• Skating- Karlsson is an excellent skater who on and off the puck. He has tremendous speed and agility, which allows him to stick to his man on defense as well as cause multitudes of problems on offense. He is rarely beaten in a footrace to the puck on dump ins and has the ability to carry the puck through the neutral zone with just his skating ability.

 

• Scoring- Karlsson is also a gifted scorer. He is a natural power play specialist. He has the vision to see how a play will develop and find the weaknesses in defenses when he's given the time and space that a power play allows him. He's a willing passer but will shoot the puck whenever he sees an opening and he usually generates a scoring chance off his shot if not a goal.

 

Cons:

• Discipline- Karlsson can get himself into penalty trouble quite often as he can get hot headed and be goaded into taking penalties. He can get caught holding or hooking when he gets beat defensively. He is willing to fight which may not seem like a con but he is too important to his team most times to be risking injury in a fight as well as sitting for 5 when most of his combatants end up being 4th line scrappers.

 

• Strength- Karlsson could also use some strength training as he has a fairly lanky build for his height. He can be bodied off the puck which nullifies his skating ability when on the puck. He will have trouble fighting off the bigger power forwards in the VHL and will need to put on some muscle if he wants to become a top defenseman in the league.

 

• Passing- Although Karlsson is a willing passer at times, he is a big trigger happy with the puck and could look to create for his teammates more in order to generate more chances and not be as predictable. His passing ability could also use some practice as he can struggle to hit his forwards on a stretch pass leading to an icing call.

[HawksFan19 89]

Overview: 3/3

 

Great job covering your childhood, high school and college life. Would have liked to see some stats in there. 

 

Grammar: 2/2

 

Appearance: 1/1

 

Great.

 

Pros: 2/2

 

Perfect!

 

Cons: 2/2

 

Awesome. 

 

FINAL: 10/10

[Guest]

Claimed