Erik Karlsson opens up about chasing his Olympic dreams and his relationship with new head coach Dan Muse
Photo credit: Screenshot
Today, Penguins star defenseman Erik Karlsson spoke about his pursuit of another Olympic appearance with Sweden and why things have clicked with new head coach Dan Muse.
Earlier this week, Erik Karlsson spoke to the media and seemed to take a shot at his former head coach Mike Sullivan while complimenting new head coach Dan Muse.
This evening, Karlsson expanded on those comments while also addressing his excitement to represent Sweden at the Olympic Games in Italy.
Erik Karlsson Opens Up About Realizing Olympic Dreams
During his career, Erik Karlsson has been fortunate to represent Sweden on several major stages including the Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia in 2014.
Since then, NHL players have been disallowed from the event preventing star players from further building their Hall of Fame resumes.
Today, Karlsson spoke about the opportunity to return to the Olympics and represent Sweden in the process.
Ever since it got announced, I think everybody who's on that radar, it's something that we all want to be a part of and be able to do. On the day-to-day basis, I don't think you walk around and think about it too much, but in the big picture, it's, obviously, something that we're all striving for.
Coming into the season, Karlsson's spot on the Swedish Olympic Team was in some doubt after back-to-back struggling seasons with the Penguins.
However, in 2025-26 Karlsson has been on an absolute tear under new head coach Dan Muse and during his recent interview Karlsson spoke about the biggest changes that have sparked his improvement.
Erik Karlsson discusses keys to career resurgence under Dan Muse
When being asked about the Penguins hot start to the year Karlsson credited the group as a whole for coming in with a new mindset and focusing on the positive.
I think we came into this year (and) everybody was motivated to be better and have a good year for themselves. We had a good training camp. I think the coaching staff has done a good job of getting everybody prepared and getting everybody what they need and, obviously, we've managed to win some early games here and that makes everything a little bit easier.
Karlsson continued and admitted that new head coach Dan Muse allowing players to do what they are best at was one of the biggest changes from last season.
It makes it easier to move forward and build on the good things and clean up some of the other stuff. So, I think it's just a mix of a lot of things. It just happened to come together for us. Why that happened, I don't really care. I'm just happy that it did.
Muse himself spoke about instilling confidence in Karlsson to be the player he was in the past and bring out the world class offensive ability that everyone knows he has.
The past couple of years maybe he didn't feel like his game was exactly where he wanted it to be, but honestly, that wasn't really even part of the conversation.
It was just I was excited to get an opportunity to get to know him, excited to get an opportunity to work together with him. I've seen what he's done in the League for a long time, so the expectation is he is a world-class defenseman
It was just I was excited to get an opportunity to get to know him, excited to get an opportunity to work together with him. I've seen what he's done in the League for a long time, so the expectation is he is a world-class defenseman
Muse clearly was able to get through to Karlsson in a way no one else has in Pittsburgh unlocking another level that has benefitted the Penguins greatly.
Karlsson and the Penguins currently sit third in the Metropolitan ahead of a key series of games against the Nashville Predators in Karlsson's home country of Sweden.
The Global Series will serve as a crucial moment for the Penguins and Karlsson himself to continue to prove they belong in the conversation of an elite team and in Karlsson's case elite player in the league.
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