Lars William Karlsson (born 8 January 1993), nicknamed "Wild Bill", is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

forward for the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expan ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). He was drafted in the second round, 53rd overall, by the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center. ...

in the

2011 NHL Entry Draft The 2011 NHL Entry Draft was the 49th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 24–25, 2011, at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was the first time the Draft was held in the state of Minnesota since the Minnesota North Stars hoste ...

. In addition to playing for Vegas, Karlsson has also played in the NHL for Anaheim and the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

. After being selected by the Golden Knights in the

2017 NHL Expansion Draft Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

, Karlsson has been one of the key points of the team offense, and helped Vegas reach

Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, french: Finale de la Coupe Stanley) is the National Hockey League's (NHL) championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, North America ...

in their inaugural season. During his first season in Vegas, Karlsson scored a career-high 43 goals and became the franchise all-time leader in goals.

Playing career

Sweden

In the 2011–12 season, Karlsson finished in 12th place in

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

scoring after recording 45 points in 46 games, the second-most on his team. He made his senior

Elitserien Elitserien (literally, "the Elite League") is the name of several Swedish nationwide sport leagues. In many sports, Elitserien is the highest league, with the second highest named Allsvenskan. Elitserien leagues at present: * Elitserien (badmint ...

debut with

HV71 HV71 (), often referred to as just HV, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Jönköping, playing in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the first tier of Swedish ice hockey. The team played in the 2008–09 Champions Hockey League s ...

Anaheim Ducks and Columbus Blue Jackets

On 20 May 2013, Karlsson signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the NHL's

, the team that drafted him in the second round, 53rd overall, in the

. He was returned on loan to HV71 for the 2013–14 season. Karlsson made his NHL debut on 11 October 2014 and scored his first and second NHL goals on 13 October against

Michal Neuvirth Michal Neuvirth ( , ; born 23 March 1988) is a Czech former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played for the Washington Capitals, New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, and Philadelphia Flyers in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selecte ...

of the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

. He was reassigned to Anaheim's

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL) affiliate, the

Norfolk Admirals Norfolk Admirals has been the name of two professional ice hockey franchises: * Norfolk Admirals (AHL), a team which played in the American Hockey League from 2000 to 2015 *Norfolk Admirals (ECHL) The Norfolk Admirals are a professional ice hock ...

, on 24 November. Karlsson was reassigned between Norfolk and Anaheim for the remainder of the season, but finished the year in the AHL. On 2 March 2015, Karlsson was traded to the

(along with Rene Bourque and a second-round draft pick in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

) in exchange for

James Wisniewski James Joseph Wisniewski (born February 21, 1984) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for the Kassel Huskies of the German DEL2. He has previously played in the Na ...

and a third-round pick in 2015.

Vegas Golden Knights

On 21 June 2017, having been left "exposed" by Columbus for the

, Karlsson was selected by the first year expansion team

. The Blue Jackets traded a first-round pick, a second-round pick in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and injured forward David Clarkson to Vegas with the agreement that the Golden Knights would select Karlsson. Karlsson spent the 2017–18 season (Vegas' first in the NHL) centering a line with

Reilly Smith Reilly Smith (born April 1, 1991) is a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger and alternate captain for the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). Growing up in Toronto, Smith played junior hockey with St. Michael's ...

and

Jonathan Marchessault Jonathan Marchessault (né Audy-Marchessault; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward for the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Tampa B ...

. This proved to be a productive line, with all three putting up career-high offensive numbers. Karlsson scored his first career NHL

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

on 31 December 2017 against the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

, it also being the first hat-trick in Golden Knights history. He scored his second career NHL hat-trick on 18 March 2018 against the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

. In addition to providing 35 assists and an NHL-high plus-minus rating of +45, Karlsson ended the regular season with 43 goals, setting a new NHL record for goals scored by a player in an expansion team's inaugural season. His 43 goals placed him third in NHL scoring, behind

Patrik Laine Patrik Laine (; born 19 April 1998) is a Finnish professional ice hockey winger who currently plays for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League. Laine formerly played in his native Finland with Tappara in the Finnish Liiga befor ...

(44) and

Alexander Ovechkin Alexander Mikhailovich Ovechkin ( rus, Александр Михайлович Овечкин, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐˈvʲetɕkʲɪn; born 17 September 1985) is a Russian professional ice hockey left winger and captain of the Washington Capitals ...

(49). Karlsson was also named a finalist for the

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, formerly known as the Lady Byng Trophy, is presented each year to the National Hockey League "player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of ...

for his high standard of play and sportsmanship. On 20 June, he was named the recipient of the trophy, becoming the first player since

Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...

to win an end-of-season award in their team's inaugural season in the NHL. Karlsson was also awarded the

Guldpucken Guldpucken (''The Golden Puck'') is awarded annually to the ice hockey player of the year in Sweden. It is similar to the NHL's Hart Memorial Trophy. Normally it goes to a player in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the top-level ice hockey league ...

as the top Swedish ice hockey player in the 2017–18 season. After his career-high season, on 4 August 2018, Karlsson signed a new one-year, $5.25 million contract with Vegas for the 2018–19 season. Karlsson described his decision to sign a one-year contract as "betting on imelf a little" and that he would use the subsequent season to prove that his 2018–19 production "was no fluke". On 24 June 2019, having produced 24 goals and 32 assists (56 points) in the 2018–19 season, Karlsson signed a new eight-year, $47.2 million contract with Vegas worth an average annual value of $5.9 million. The contract is effective from the 2019–20 season through to the end of the 2026–27 season.

Personal life

Karlsson is an open AIK supporter. As a child, his biggest dream was to play for AIK Football. In 2020, Karlsson became engaged to former '' The Bachelor'' contestant Emily Ferguson. They married on July 23, 2022 .

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

Records

* Holds the NHL record for most goals scored (43) by a single player in an expansion team's inaugural season (previously Brian Bradley with

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater in ...

(42) from 1993–2018).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Karlsson, William 1993 births Living people Anaheim Ducks draft picks Anaheim Ducks players Columbus Blue Jackets players HV71 players Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winners Norfolk Admirals players People from Sigtuna Municipality Springfield Falcons players Swedish expatriate ice hockey people Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Swedish ice hockey centres Vegas Golden Knights players VIK Västerås HK players Sportspeople from Stockholm County