SHARKS SIGN CARLSSON TO TWO-WAY CONTRACT
Jul 1, 2024
SAN JOSE, CA – San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) Assistant General Manager Joe Will announced today that the club has signed defenseman Lucas Carlsson to a two-year, two-way contract.
“Lucas provides offensive defenseman depth to the organization,” said Will. “He has shown to be one of the most productive offensive defenseman in the AHL the past few seasons and has a balanced game. He is a popular teammate and provides leadership by example.”
Carlsson, 26, played in 52 games with the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL) last season, finishing third among league blue-liners with 15 goals, led AHL rearguards with five game-winning goals on the year, and tied for 13th among the group with 39 points. He led Charlotte’s defense corps in all scoring categories and finished third among all skaters on the team in scoring for the season. The defenseman also competed for the Atlantic Division squad at the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic held at Tech CU Arena.
In 2022-23, Carlsson set an AHL career high with 54 points (20 goals, 34 assists) in 61 games with Charlotte, coming in second among league defensemen in scoring while being one of only two blue-liners to reach the 20-goal mark on the season. Carlsson earned a place on the AHL’s Second All-Star Team and appeared in two NHL games with the Florida Panthers. He has amassed 170 points (53 goals, 117 assists) with a plus-40 rating in 256 career AHL games.
The defenseman saw his highest NHL workload in the 2021-22 campaign, when he posted nine points (three goals, six assists) and a plus-3 rating in 40 games with the Florida Panthers. He scored his first NHL goal on Dec. 2, 2021 vs. the Buffalo Sabres in the first of back-to-back multi-point games. In his career, Carlsson has totaled 11 points (three goals, eight assists) with a plus-6 rating in 60 NHL games with the Panthers and Chicago Blackhawks.
Prior to his time in North America, Carlsson played for Brynas IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), posting 38 points (14 goals, 24 assists) in 136 games over four seasons. In international play, Carlsson represented Sweden at the 2017 World Junior Championship, logging three points (one goal, two assists) in seven games with a plus-9 rating at the tournament. He also played for Sweden’s U-18 team at the 2015 U-18 World Junior Championship, where he tallied two points (one goal, one assist) in five games.
The six-foot, 192-pound native of Gavle, Sweden was originally selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2016 NHL Draft (fourth round, 110th overall).