Sheng Peng
Joel Kellman’s time is now.
In April 2019, the Swedish Hockey League import signed a one-year contract with the San Jose Sharks. After starting the season with the Barracuda, Kellman earned his first call-up in December. For about a month, the 25-year-old center shuttled back and forth between the AHL and the NHL.
But by mid-February, Kellman had entrenched himself in Bob Boughner’s line-up. At the time of the pause, Kellman was skating top-nine minutes and taking a regular penalty kill shift.
Lest you think this was entirely because the Sharks had suffered attrition up front because of injuries and trades, San Jose put their money where their mouth is last month, re-signing Kellman for two years, $1.5 million.
“Joel has proven himself at the NHL level with his intelligence and responsibility on both ends of the ice,” San Jose Sharks GM Doug Wilson said in a press release that announced the deal.
San Jose Hockey Now caught up with Kellman, who’s back in his hometown Karlskrona, this afternoon.
The soft-spoken centerman confirmed his desire to play in Allsvenskan — that’s Jonathan Dahlen’s league — to prepare for the next NHL season. He also revealed which former Sharks prospect pushed him toward San Jose when he was choosing where to sign last year. Kellman also spoke up for Sharks captain Logan Couture’s leadership.
Sheng Peng: So it’s your second NHL season next year. What are you looking to improve?
Joel Kellman: First, I need to get a spot on the NHL team. But maybe play more minutes. Start there. Just be a better hockey player, both offense and defense, play both ways.
SP: When you say play more minutes, do you think of yourself as a power play guy in the NHL? Or do you see yourself in a role like you played last year, bottom-six penalty killer?
JK: It’s hard. The NHL is tough. It’s the best league in the world. It tough to take a spot on the power play. So my focus right now is to play well in the bottom-six.
SP: So now you’re on your way to becoming an NHL regular, any thought to changing your number?
JK: I haven’t thought about it. I don’t think I’m going to change it. But I haven’t thought about it. I think I’ll stay with 46. We’ll see.
SP: You recently donated money to help your hometown club Karlskrona out of financial trouble. When did you start playing at Karlskrona? Who influenced you most in Karlskrona?
JK: That’s where I started playing hockey when I was like four or five years old. I played there until I was 16. Then I came back when I was 20 and played four more years. So basically, I’ve played there for 20 years.
My dad was my coach. He also played there. He’s helped me a lot, from when I started when I was five to 15, 16.
I think he played left wing.
He taught me to always stay positive, work hard. If you work hard, good things will happen.
SP: As we await the beginning of the next NHL year, there’s a story out there that you wish to play for Allsvenskan’s Kristianstads IK. Is this story true or untrue?
JK: It’s not untrue. But I don’t know yet. I may play for them, I may not.
I think it’s good to play some games and be ready when camp starts.
SP: Do the Sharks want you to play there?
JK: I think they want me to play too. But it’s just some other things that need to be worked out.
SP: Insurance?
JK: Yeah, yeah, of course.
SP: Well, you have to be careful out there! You can’t hit Marcus Sorensen or Jonathan Dahlen.
JK: Oh, yeah. (laughs) Of course not, of course not.
SP: Looking over your career, you were a bit of a late bloomer. But your career seemed to take off in the 2016-17 season for Kristianstads. The year before, you scored 16 points. Then you put up 30. What changed in that time?
JK: I always just tried to work hard over time. Eventually, it just happened.
I also got more responsibility from my coach Per Hånberg. He gave me a lot of minutes.
SP: All this led you to the NHL. Last spring, you were choosing between NHL teams. What teams were close?
JK: A couple teams were very interested. But in the end, it was between two teams before I decided.
SP: Who else besides the San Jose Sharks?
JK: I think I’m going to pass on the question.
SP: No problem, so why did you choose the Sharks?
JK: They have a good history of signing European players. They’ve signed Marcus Sorensen, Tim Heed, Melker, and Donskoi before. That was a big season.
I actually talked a little bit with [2014 Sharks second-round pick] Julius Bergman. He’s from Karlskrona too. So I talked to him before about the organization. He said only positive things about the organization and the city. He liked it there.
SP: So when you walk into the Sharks locker room, I’m sure you have a lot of ideas about who these guys are, just seeing them on TV. Superstars, big personalities like Joe Thornton, Brent Burns, and Erik Karlsson.
Who in the Sharks locker room surprised you the most, whether in terms of their personality or something else?
JK: Who surprised me the most? Maybe Couture. He’s a great guy, a great leader. He’s a great captain who’s taking care of everyone.
Of course, he’s a great player too. I watched him a lot before I came over from Sweden. Great player, great person.
It was him and Pavelski that I watched a lot before.
SP: The new guy who might be walking into the locker room next year, you know from playing against him in the SHL. What can you tell us about Fredrik Handemark?
JK: He’s a great two-way center. He’s big, strong. Strong on the faceoffs, played both power play and penalty kill. His size is going to help us.
SP: Thanks for your time, Joel. I just want to close up with some non-hockey questions. You participated in #BlackOutTuesday in June. Just wondering what that meant to you?
JK: I wanted to support Evander. Helped spread the message. Evander and other players are doing a great job with that.
SP: Can you tell us something that we don’t know about you — like what’s your favorite food? What’s your favorite karaoke song?
JK: Oh, karaoke. I don’t sing karaoke. My favorite movie is “The Dark Knight Rises”. Love that movie. My favorite food is Swedish meatballs, maybe.
SP: I hate to ask, because it’s such a cliche to ask a Swedish player, but since you bring it up, what do you think of the Swedish meatballs at IKEA?
JK: I think they’re good. We went there a couple times to eat. (laughs) It’s better in Sweden. But it’s good in IKEA.
SP: Finally, what’s your favorite Håkan Hellström song? I saw you’re a big fan of his.
JK: Oh, yeah. “Din Tid Kommer” — “Your Time Is Coming”.
This interview was edited for clarity and length.