William Karlsson returned to the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday night for Game 1 of the Western Conference Second Round against the Anaheim Ducks, ending an absence that stretched back to Nov. 8 because of a lower-body injury.
Karlsson said he was excited to be back, and the timing mattered because the playoffs do not leave room for a slow return. “I’m very excited,” he said. “Yeah, I’m ready to go. It’s been a long journey, but now I’m here, so it feels good.”
The center’s comeback gives Vegas a familiar two-way presence at a point in the postseason when the margin for error gets tighter by the shift. Karlsson practiced with Henderson of the American Hockey League last week, then skated with Vegas on Thursday and Sunday before getting back into the lineup. He said his focus was simple: “I just want to get into the groove and hopefully play a good game.”
Karlsson’s return also brings back one of the most durable threads in the Golden Knights’ rise. He was selected by the Ducks in the second round, No. 53, of the 2011 NHL Draft, played 18 games for Anaheim in 2014-15 and then was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 2, 2015. After Columbus left him unprotected, Vegas took him in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, and he quickly became one of the defining players in franchise history. In his first season with the Golden Knights, he had 78 points in 82 games, including 43 goals and 35 assists, and helped them reach the Stanley Cup Final.
He has stayed central to that story ever since. Karlsson ranks second in Golden Knights history with 403 points in 569 regular-season games, behind Jonathan Marchessault’s 417 points in 514 games from 2017 to 2024, and he ranks fourth in franchise playoff scoring with 71 points in 106 games. Vegas won the Stanley Cup in 2023 and has won 66 games and 13 series in the playoffs over the past nine years, so getting a player of Karlsson’s caliber back for a second-round series adds another layer to a team built on depth and continuity.
There was also a quiet symmetry to the day. John Tortorella, who coached Karlsson in Columbus from 2015 to 2017, is now behind the bench for Vegas after replacing Bruce Cassidy on March 29. Tortorella remembered calling Karlsson after the trade and asking, “Did I screw up?” Karlsson said he still remembers the call, adding that he was back home in Sweden at the time. “It was just meant to be, you know? It’s just the way it goes,” he said. For Vegas, the immediate question is less about the reunion than how quickly Karlsson can turn months of recovery into playoff rhythm.