San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson undergoes forearm surgery

San Jose Sharks defenceman Erik Karlsson underwent surgery on his forearm Monday, the club announced Tuesday.

The surgery, the Sharks say, was to repair a small muscle tear in his left forearm and was done at Kaiser Permanente in San Jose Monday.

“Injuries of this nature can vary in their recovery time, but it is expected that he will be reevaluated in mid-March,” the Sharks said in a statement.

Karlsson, 31, has appeared in 33 games this season for the Sharks scoring eight goals and 26 points.

Now in his fourth season with the Sharks, Karlsson has long been one of the premier offensive defensemen in the NHL. Over his 821 NHL games, he’s scored 151 goals and 641 points.

Drafted by the Ottawa Senators 15th overall in the 2008 draft, Karlsson was traded by the club to San Jose alongside Francis Perron on Sept. 13, 2018. In return, the Sharks gave up a conditional 1st round pick in 2019, a 1st round pick in 2022, a second-round pick in 2021, Rudolf Balcers, Dylan DeMelo, Josh Norris, and Chris Tierney.

The Sharks currently sit fifth in the Pacific Division with a 21-19-2 record.

Karlsson is in the third year of an eight-year deal paying him an AAV of $11.5-million

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Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.

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