Erik Karlsson addresses trade demand rumours:

Erik Karlsson felt like he needed to address the ongoing chatter in San Jose and across the National Hockey League.

There’s been a sense that Karlsson could want out of California, especially since the Sharks traded blue liner Brent Burns to the Carolina Hurricanes earlier this off-season.But despite a new management team, the Sharks defenseman maintains that he is staying in San Jose for the long haul.

“I committed here a long time ago. It didn’t work out the way we wanted it to early on. There’s a lot of things that probably played into that. I’m not going to get into details about that,” Karlsson told The Athletic’s Corey Masisak on Thursday. “But I am excited for the future here now. I hope we can move in the direction to be successful again. Is that going to be this year? I mean, who knows? But I do think something good can come out of here.”

Karlsson will be the highest-paid player on the Sharks this season, earning $11.5 million through 2026-27. Unfortunately for Karlsson, San Jose has missed the playoffs in each of the past three years after a streak that saw the Sharks miss the postseason just once in 15 seasons from 2004 to 2019. The defenseman could have been looking to be traded to a contender for a chance at the Stanley Cup before his career is over, however, he is set on staying in San Jose.

“We’ve kind of been stuck in the mud for a little bit, and it’s going to be nice to see if we can get something going here and get everybody on the same page to play a sustainable game where we have a chance of making the playoffs.”

Karlsson has dealt with injuries for many years with the poor defender having never played more than 56 games in any of the four seasons with the Sharks. Last season again, he was only able to suit up for just 55 games as he was ultimately ruled out for the remainder of the year in February. He posted 10 goals and 35 points.

If Karlsson wants his Sharks to reach the postseason, he will have to do better and lead the way. If not maybe the rumour will be that it is the team who wants to move him…