Dylan Karlsson decided that he wanted to talk about his offseason activities and the start of the season. SHL players don't talk much about training usually in public but Dylan decided to do that here as well as some talk about the Jets. It's a big season for both him and the team so it's pretty fitting to have a media piece anyways, especially after he has just won a gold medal and with this being his lucky third year in the league. He is a bit of a lesser known player but he hopes to eventually become more well recognized and this platform is a way to do that. The rest of the article is in first person narrated from Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dylan Karlsson's perspective.

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My offseason went absolutely great as far as I am concerned, I couldn't be in a better mood and have been in better spirits to start the new season. I played in the IIHF tournament again with Sweden and we shocked everyone with how we did. We had just got some new people like Leopold Lockhart and we had like this crazy run, managed to get a gold medal. Who would have seen us winning the whole thing? That was the highlight of my offseason, I never expected to get a medal let alone a gold. I have never won any sort of championship so that's really the only thing that I have ever won in my career, which is actually pretty darn sad now that I think about it. The Jets came close I mean with the going to the finals thing but we didn't win so second place doesn't count. Unless you count winning our conference, we did that with ease. But Sweden's story was unreal, I mean we beat Ireland, Canada, and USA, all the big power teams with super stars on every line. It was the hockey version of David and Goliath, we slayed the giants. Our goalie was probably what carried us but we got some solid offense too that also helped take us to victory.

There was a crazy party at Ola Wagstrom's house after our gold medal win with lots of loud music and some drinks available for everyone. Everyone was going crazy, feasting on Swedish food and just cheering as we watched the highlights of our game on a TV, crowding around. It wasn't just the Swedish players, celebrities and some other supportive SHL players were there too taking part in the festivities. I usually am not a fan of crowds, events, or parties, anything of this sort, but I was having a great time. The vibe and the atmosphere was just great, you couldn't not be having fun unless you were a robot. Especially the Swedish players, we all get money for winning the gold so what reason would we have to not be happy? I remember there were some silly party games too like pin the tail on the donkey and musical chairs that were going on, it was basically like being a kid again. People stood around in circles and chatted to while sipping drinks, laughing and socializing with new people, getting to know everyone who was there. Just a good time all around. The celebration was super fun, not that anyone remembered much of it after. What a great way to send off the retiring players and to cap off a great run. This year will go down in our country's history forever for years and years after this. I don't know how we can top it next year but it would be awesome to defend our medal and have another epic unforeseen run deep into the tournament. I'll be even better next year and so will a lot of the young Swedish players, so perhaps we can do it again.

I worked a lot on my defensive skills and sort of just quietly did some training after the tournament. I am now on the Jets second pairing which is a step up now the only thing is to get on the power play, so I'm working really hard this year. I got an extension which I'm happy about. Continuing my SHL career is what I wanted, and I am quite happy in Winnipeg. Last year we were the runner up but this year we can win it all. We started off really bad, we were in last place for awhile, I don't know if we still are. But it's early and it's not too late I don't think, not if we can get a bunch of wins.  We are better than a lot of the teams ahead of us, teams who are projected to finish last and probably will fall on their faces soon unless they have just crazy luck. I hope we can turn things around, I want another chance at a cup. Winnipeg has a really great roster and we did it last year, so I don't see why we would not be able to do great things and get a lot of wins this year. These next set of games are super important and they're must-win games; we don't have an infinite amount of time in the season so it has to start happening right here right now. There's no time to wait around or drop anymore games with ridiculous losses in easy matches.

I'm nearing 700 TPE, I want to hit 1000 within 3 seasons. That's the milestone everyone goes for, right? And supposedly the point where you really get good as a defenseman, I want to be like Gary Grease and score lots of points. So after I max defense which I'm close to, at 96 now, just 3 rating away, then I will go and max scoring. 99 scoring would be awesome I think and exactly what I need to start putting up lots of points and to get myself worthy of being on the power play. I have to work weekly and train hard in the gym for that. It would be cool to be a fan favorite, as a lifelong Jet maybe I can become a popular player because of my loyalty as well as what i do on the ice.

Right now I only have 2 points but hopefully I can get a few more, my passing probably isn't high enough to get a lot of assists so I need to work on that too. It would be an awesome achievement to be able to get double digit goals this year though I don't know if that's realistic. I want to bring my plus minus down too because I'm like WAAAAAAAAAAY in the negative there which is a big oof. Not sure why it's so low, maybe it's because I don't hit a lot but we will see if it goes down once I max my defense. Or maybe I need higher endurance since I'm playing a lot of minutes now in the top four. Another potential reason is that I could need more puck handling to block more shots, should not be super hard to get that to 90 since it's already one of my higher stats. It's something to investigate and try to fix for sure, because the whole point of having defense is not to give up goals, so I need to make that my top priority and do so much better in that department for the good of the team. I wouldn't want to be the reason we aren't able to win games and we need to make it easier on the goalie to not have difficult shots to deal with.

I can see myself having a pretty long career, but I shouldn't get into that since I said I would focus on this season. Obviously you could look ahead a few seasons down the line where hopefully we are a contending team for a long time. It's all speculation though and it's better to look now in the present. This is the last season of the S40s, next we have the S50s, so just keep your mind focused and stay in the here and now. This is my third year in the league I think, which feels really fast and like it's been longer at the same time. Time has a funny way of doing that doesn't it? I've had 13 points my first year and 14 points my second, I'm expecting pretty much the same but who knows, I could be better. Now that I think about it, I scored 3 goals last year, the double digit goals is unrealistic, five would be a better target. I could have sworn I had scored more but it's ok, one day I will. It felt like my career was half way over or like I've been here for five years but it's only been a short time since I came up to the SHL. I spent one year in juniors after I was drafted but it still feels like there's missing time.

These will be what I look back on later as the best days of my career, when I'm young and eager to prove myself. When the team is young and eager to prove ourselves as a whole. We have the talent to contend against anyone and to be one of the best teams, all the pieces are right there. For the next six years, hopefully we can keep the whole crew together, that's what I would really like to see. That's how you prove you have a class team full of really quality players because there's more than just what happens on the ice, it's all that locker room presence and all the stuff that goes on off the ice. I hope people remember me as a good guy off the ice, as having a good personality and as doing what is best for the team. I think even now it's clear I was a steal since I was drafted so late but I'm still active, earning, and I have a decent amount of TPE to be decent and useable on an SHL roster. I'm not a Gretzky but I think I'm solid and I'm becoming the player that I always wanted to be. Now it is just a matter of that showing up on the stat line and of me making an impact either way on the scoreboard. Even if my contributions are sort of invisible to a lot of people, I know that I'm making a difference and I can believe in myself and my abilities regardless of what any numbers say or what anyone thinks. A positive attitude is the most important thing and I have that down pat. I won't bring myself or my team down, just going to roll with the punches and keep a smile on my face. I made it to the SHL, no matter what happens not too many people on this planet can say that now can they?

Anyhow, to wrap things up, I'm really optimistic about what's going on right now. I think we are in a good spot, I like my teammates quite a bit, I like my management quite a bit, and I think my career is moving along and progressing at where it needs to be. After a really happy and positive offseason with the IIHF, I'm ready to train harder than ever and set some new career bests. I'm ready to tackle this year, to do whatever it takes to win, and to work super hard in the pursuit of that Cup. The team needs to win, and I can play a part in that by improving and figuring out what skills to upgrade. However the season may have started, all that matters is how it ends, and I don't believe for one second that anyone in Winnipeg is discouraged by this poor start or is thinking of giving up. We are a team that fights to the end and we will come back or die trying.