Boughner Says Karlsson “Ahead of Schedule” in Recovery from Injury

Could Erik Karlsson come back before mid-March?

In late January, Karlsson had surgery “to repair a small muscle tear in his left forearm.”

There was no timetable given for his return at that time, except that he would be re-evaluated in mid-March.

San Jose Sharks head coach Bob Boughner saw Erik Karlsson today at Sharks Ice: “He says he’s feeling pretty good. I think he’s going to be ahead of schedule at the end of the day.”

Karlsson coming back early could be a significant addition to a Sharks squad hoping to make a playoff push. At the moment, they’re seven points behind second wild card team Anaheim, but they’ve got three games in hand.

In just 33 games, Karlsson has registered eight goals and 26 points. He leads all Sharks blueliners in goals and is third on the team with 23:06 played per game.

So could the mid-March re-evaluation be moved up?

Boughner wouldn’t commit to that: “They’re constantly evaluating. He’s here, he’s working, he’s doing his therapy and all those things every day. We’re going to keep an eye on him day to day.

“He’s just on orders from the doctor to try and rest as much as possible.”

That might be hard order to follow for Karlsson these days though.

Erik and Melinda Karlsson just had their second child, son Stellan Axel Karlsson. This follows the birth of daughter Harlow Rain in Oct. 2019.

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You can see the tape over where we presume they operated on Karlsson in this picture.