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Photo of William Karlsson

William Karlsson

#71 · Centre · Vegas Golden Knights

Born Jan 8, 1993 in Marsta, SWE (age 33) · 6'0", 190 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 53rd overall in 2011 by ANA (round 2)

Trophy case

Stanley Cup NHL Champion 2022-23
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy Sportsmanship and Gentlemanly Conduct 2017-18

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2014-15. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Brian Gibbons CBJ · 5 P in 25 GP Lucas Lessio ARI · 5 P in 26 GP Micheal Ferland CGY · 5 P in 26 GP Phil Varone BUF · 5 P in 28 GP Michael Bournival MTL · 5 P in 29 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

02040602014-15: 5 points514-152015-16: 20 points2015-162016-17: 25 points2516-172017-18: 78 points7817-182018-19: 56 points5618-192019-20: 46 points4619-202020-21: 39 points3920-212021-22: 35 points3521-222022-23: 53 points5322-232023-24: 60 points6023-242024-25: 29 points2924-252025-26: 7 points725-262026-27: 1 points126-27

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2014-15 ANA 18 2 1 3 1 2 24 14 0.17 $831K
2014-15 CBJ 3 1 1 2 2 0 5 4 0.67
2015-16 CBJ 81 9 11 20 -9 6 108 40 0.25 $831K
2016-17 CBJ 81 6 19 25 10 10 96 35 0.31 $1M
2017-18 VGK 82 43 35 78 49 12 184 48 0.95 $1M
2018-19 VGK 82 24 32 56 1 16 169 51 0.68 $5.25M
2019-20 VGK 63 15 31 46 11 16 138 40 0.73 $5.9M
2020-21 VGK 56 14 25 39 19 4 111 29 0.70 $5.9M
2021-22 VGK 67 12 23 35 3 10 135 42 0.52 $5.9M
2022-23 VGK 82 14 39 53 14 10 161 50 0.65 $5.9M
2023-24 VGK 70 30 30 60 15 22 175 43 0.86 $5.9M
2024-25 VGK 53 9 20 29 17 4 119 20 0.55 $5.9M
2025-26 VGK 14 4 3 7 -1 4 30 3 0.50 $5.9M
2026-27 VGK 5 0 1 1 -2 0 7 0 0.20 $5.9M
13 seasons Career 757 183 271 454 130 116 1462 419 0.60

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2016-17 CBJ 5 2 1 3 4 0 12 4 0.60
2017-18 VGK 20 7 8 15 8 2 50 30 0.75
2018-19 VGK 7 2 3 5 1 2 17 9 0.71
2019-20 VGK 17 3 4 7 -1 0 45 24 0.41
2020-21 VGK 19 4 12 16 10 2 34 25 0.84
2022-23 VGK 22 11 6 17 11 2 45 15 0.77
2023-24 VGK 7 0 2 2 4 0 9 8 0.29
2024-25 VGK 11 3 3 6 5 0 17 2 0.55
2025-26 VGK 15 3 6 9 10 4 24 6 0.60
9 seasons Playoffs 123 35 45 80 52 12 253 123 0.65

2014-15 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
21 3 2 5 3 2 29 18 0.24 10.3 12:14

Contract

$831KCap hitends in 2016, then RFA
$166KCap dollars per point5 points in 21 games
$1.675MCap dollars per goal above replacement0.5 goals above replacement
$849KWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
+$18KValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 649 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Anaheim Ducks on May 19, 2013, as an entry-level contract: 3 years and $2.775M, beginning in 2013-14. It runs through 2015-16, with 1 season left after this one, and he is then a restricted free agent.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2013-14 $831K $550K $93K $283K $643K
2014-15 $831K $833K $93K $925K
2015-16 $831K $833K $93K $925K

Each season of the contract, with this one marked. The cap hit is the same every year; what he is paid is not. The pay is as written when the contract was recorded in October 2024, so a later change, such as the rise in the lowest salary for 2026-27, is not shown.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Sep 30, 2026 Vegas Golden Knights Extension 2027-28 to 2028-29 2 $13.5M $6.75M
Jun 24, 2019 Vegas Golden Knights Extension 2019-20 to 2026-27 8 $47.2M $5.9M
Aug 4, 2018 Vegas Golden Knights New contract 2018-19 to 2018-19 1 $5.25M $5.25M
Jun 23, 2016 Columbus Blue Jackets Extension 2016-17 to 2017-18 2 $2M $1M
May 19, 2013 Anaheim Ducks Entry-level 2013-14 to 2015-16 3 $2.775M $831K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2014-15 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2014-15 analytics

Rating

+0.5Goals above replacement468th of 665 skaters, 315th of 432 forwards
+0.1Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-0.2Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 432 ranked forwards: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile.

Even-strength offence-0.4 45th percentileEven-strength defence-0.1 42nd percentilePower play-0.3 28th percentilePenalty kill+0.0 52nd percentilePenalties+0.5 57th percentile

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater, and the rank beside it is among forwards. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. Provisional: under 40 games it is more chance than player. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

051015202014-152016-172018-192020-212022-232024-252026-27Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

49.0Corsi for %187 attempts for, 195 against
-1.5CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
50.7Expected goals for %7.8 expected for, 7.6 against
-3.6xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
49.1Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
58.8Goals for %10 for, 7 against
102.8PDO9.3% shooting + 93.5% saves
40Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

These are left plain: he has not been on the ice enough to be ranked. That takes at least 200 shot attempts with him out there, about six or seven games, and a quarter of what the busiest skater has. Over a game or two these numbers are mostly chance.

Who he played with

Forward lineTeamGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Andrew Cogliano · Jakob Silfverberg · William KarlssonANA529:5365.569.22-0
Scott Hartnell · William Karlsson · Marko DanoCBJ326:3939.646.13-1
Matt Beleskey · William Karlsson · Rickard RakellANA426:2561.963.01-0
Andrew Cogliano · Emerson Etem · William KarlssonANA419:1559.551.11-1

The lines he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's lines that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

3Goalsnot counting empty-netters
3.0Expected goalsfrom 44 unblocked attempts
0.0Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.70 expected goals per 60 minutes52nd
Shot quality 6.8% chance per attempt36th
Finishing 0.0 goals above expected57thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 415 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

0123Game 20Goals 3Expected 3.0

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Mar 28, 2015 @ STL W 4-2 1 0 1 1 0 2 2 12:14
Mar 27, 2015 @ CHI W 5-2 0 0 0 1 0 3 1 14:03
Mar 24, 2015 vs ANA W 5-3 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 12:02
Feb 25, 2015 vs OTT L 0-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 3 09:01
Feb 6, 2015 @ WSH L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 10:31
Nov 16, 2014 vs FLA L 2-6 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 15:11
Nov 15, 2014 @ LAK L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 12:14
Nov 12, 2014 vs LAK W 6-5 (SO) 0 0 0 -1 0 5 1 12:40
Nov 9, 2014 vs VAN L 1-2 (SO) 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 12:24
Nov 7, 2014 vs ARI L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 10:21
Nov 5, 2014 vs NYI L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13:56
Nov 2, 2014 @ COL W 3-2 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 11:35
Oct 31, 2014 @ DAL W 2-1 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 08:09
Oct 26, 2014 vs SJS L 1-4 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 09:56
Oct 24, 2014 vs CBJ W 4-1 0 1 1 0 0 2 1 13:23
Oct 22, 2014 vs BUF W 4-1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 15:49
Oct 19, 2014 vs STL W 3-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 13:32
Oct 17, 2014 vs MIN W 2-1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 11:46
Oct 14, 2014 @ PHI W 4-3 (SO) 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 13:22
Oct 13, 2014 @ BUF W 5-1 2 0 2 2 0 6 1 14:01
Oct 11, 2014 @ DET W 3-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10:42