Photo courtesy of TheAHL.com

Fantasy Summary

A stifling defender first and foremost who might never produce meaningful offensive numbers, Carlsson is more likely to fill the peripheral categories.


Observations

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June 2023 – The Capitals are not qualifying Carlsson and he will become a UFA. He is just a depth NHL defenseman at this point who is solid in the AHL. Pat Quinn
July 2022 – Carlsson signed a one year, two-way contract with the Washington Capitals. Peter Harling
July 2020 – The 23-year-old has been selected to join the club as a black ace for this year’s playoff run. This comes as no surprise as he has been a constant fringe player on their blueline and one of their top defensive prospects. Baring a string of injuries, it’s likely that he remains on the outside looking in for the summer. However, look for him to make a strong case for a permanent role on next year’s roster and at the very least, will be a top call-up candidate once again. Dave Hall
February 2020 – Carlsson is back to assume his role with the Cleveland Monsters after a brief cup of coffee with the Jackets during the holidays. While he never got his name on the score-sheet, the 23-year-old blue-liner held his own on the ice and fit nicely into the team’s third-pairing. His development is running it’s course as expected and has been relied on heavily on the Monsters’ back-end. In just 39 games, he sits just one-point shy of his previous career-high point total with 11 (1G + 10A). A nice trajectory for a shutdown defender. Carlsson serves as a perfect candidate for a late-season promotion, should the need be there. Dave Hall

October 2019 – The 6’2 defender has begun his 2019 campaign on the Cleveland Monsters top defensive unit alongside veteran Adam Clendenning. The two complement each other well as Carlsson prefers to make the safe defensive play while the other carries more offensive value. The former first-round pick uses his stick wisely and can break up plays with ease. He should be considered a strong candidate for a call up this season and could battle for a roster spot with the Jackets next season. However, he will be used in more defensive situations and still holds little to no fantasy value. Dave Hall

 

May 2019 – Carlsson wrapped up his 2018-19 campaign having scored a career-high 12 points in 67 games. The 22-year-old has had a few cups of coffee with the Blue Jackets but he has not been able to land full-time duties. Unless he signs a one-way contract this summer, next season could bring much of the same. Regardless of where he plays, he will have not carry any fantasy value except in the deepest of leagues. Frank Pellegrini

 

November 2018 – Carlsson has begun the 2018-19 season with the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL. He is off to a scorching start, accumulating one goal and five assists through seven games. He is a good skater who is tough to knock off the puck, and a stud in his own end of the rink with a will to win every shift he takes. With such a big frame and lengthy reach, he is very good on the penalty kill. Carlsson was unsuccessful in securing a top-six role with the Blue Jackets, but his time is now. As a result, expect him to be the first defenseman called up by the Jackets when needed. Frank Pellegrini

February 2018 – Carlsson has spent the bulk of his time in the AHL this campaign, further developing his shutdown style which should translate well to NHL ice in the next year or two. As a big-bodied left-shot with solid fundamentals, the former first round selection may be a solid component to a winning blue line someday. It likely won’t translate into much fantasy production however. Kevin Wickersham

December 2017 – Bouncing between an NHL bottom-paring spot, time with AHL Cleveland and healthy scratches, Carlsson hasn’t yet taken the NHL bull by the horns. While his offensive stats will never be out of this world, he has shown a good propensity to slow oppoenents as well as move and protect the puck. It just hasn’t been enough yet in his 10 games with CBJ to ensure a permanent role. Kevin Wickersham

October 2017 – Carlsson beat out several other CBJ prospects for an opening night roster spot, likely on a bottom pairing with Ryan Murray. He will try to build on his strong postseason showing last year and stay in the bigs for the bulk of 2017-18. Kevin Wickersham

September 2017 – Carlsson is listed on Columbus’ 23-man roster for the annual Traverse CIty NHL Prospects Tournament running Spetember 8-12. After a brief but solid regular and postseason showing late last year, the big, 20-year-old blueliner is a candidate to make the Jackets’ opening night roster, and a good showing at the tournament would further improve his odds. Kevin Wickersham

September 2016 – Carlsson is yet another in an increasingly long line of big, mobile, puck-moving defenseman coming out of Sweden in the past four or five years and is likely to see time in the NHL in the near future. Unfortunately for fantasy owners, that future does not include this season. Carlsson will play the 2016-2017 season on loan with Linkoping of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) and will again be a fixture on the Swedish blueline during the U20 world junior championship. Like more than a few European prospects, Carlsson’s status as it pertains to crossing the pond is a bit murky. He is under contract in Europe through the 2018-2019 season but that does not mean he will not find his way to North America before that time. He is an intriguing prospect to keep on fantasy radar but expectations should be kept to a minimum until it becomes more clear when he will make the move to professional hockey in the U.S. Erik Schiefer

December 2015 – Carlsson has made Team Sweden to compete in the World Junior Championships. In one game so far he tallied two assists. Hayden Soboleski

March 2015 –Big one-dimensional shutdown blueliner who will eat up a ton of tough minutes, stiffling attacks with a rangy wingspan, quick footwork and suffocating gap control. Teams know what they are gettnig with Gabriel Carlsson and there’s few who do it as well as he does in this class. He will likely never light up the game sheet but he’s mobile, smart with his outlets and thinks the game well enough to pick up modest production from the backend. Brendan Ross

Attributes
Fantasy Upside 2.5
NHL Certainty 4.0
Country SWE
Position D
Roster Type Minors
Shoot/Glove Left
Date of Birth January 2, 1997
Height 6‘5”
Weight 203 lbs
Drafted 2015 Round 1; Overall: 29

Stats

 Season Team League GP G A TP PIM      Playoffs GP G A TP PIM 
 2011-2012 Örebro HK U16U16 SM3 1 01 0|        
 2012-2013 Örebro LänTV-Pucken8 1 23 4|        
  Örebro HK U16U16 SM3 0 11 0|        
  Örebro HK J18J18 Region16 1 56 4|        
  Örebro HUF J18J18 Div.12 2 02 0|        
  Sweden U16 (all)International-Jr3 0 00 0|        
 2013-2014 Linköping HC J18J18 Region22 2 1214 8|        
  Linköping HC J18J18 Nationell18 2 35 6|Playoffs5 0 00
  Sweden U17WHC-175 0 00 2|        
  Sweden U17 (all)International-Jr8 0 11 0|        
 2014-2015 Linköping HC J18J18 Region3 2 02 0|        
  Linköping HC J18J18 Nationell4 0 33 2|        
  Linköping HC J20J20 Nationell39 0 77 14|Playoffs3 0 22
  Linköping HCSHL7 0 22 0|Playoffs10 0 11
  Sweden U18WJC-185 0 00 2|        
  Sweden U18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup5 0 11 0|        
  Sweden U18 (all)International-Jr20 0 22 4|        
 2015-2016 Linköping HC J20J20 Nationell11 2 68 8|Playoffs1 0 00
  Linköping HCChampions HL5 0 11 2|        
  Linköping HCSHL45 1 89 2|Playoffs6 0 00
  Sweden U20WJC-207 0 33 8|        
  Sweden U20 (all)International-Jr17 1 56 10|        
 2016-2017 Linköping HCSHL40 2 24 6|Playoffs6 0 00
  Linköping HCChampions HL7 0 00 4|        
  Columbus Blue JacketsNHL2 0 11 0|Playoffs5 0 00
  Cleveland MonstersAHL3 0 11 2|        
  Sweden U20WJC-206 0 22 0|        
  Sweden U20 (all)International-Jr14 0 33 0|        
 2017-2018 Columbus Blue JacketsNHL14 0 22 4|        
  Cleveland MonstersAHL33 2 35 14|        
 2018-2019 Columbus Blue JacketsNHL1 0 00 2|        
  Cleveland MonstersAHL67 2 1012 14|Playoffs8 0 33
 2019-2020 Columbus Blue JacketsNHL6 0 00 2|        
  Cleveland MonstersAHL41 2 1012 14|        
 2020-2021 Columbus Blue JacketsNHL14 1 34 4|        
 2021-2022 Columbus Blue JacketsNHL38 2 79 10|        
  Cleveland MonstersAHL2 0 22 0|        
 2022-2023 Washington CapitalsNHL6 0 22 0|        
  Hershey BearsAHL59 1 1415 44|Playoffs20 0 22
 2023-2024 Växjö Lakers HCSHL45 8 1826 20|Playoffs4 1 01
  Växjö Lakers HCChampions HL9 1 23 2|        
  SwedenEHT3 0 00 0|        
  Sweden (all)International3 0 00 0|        

Highlights