Pacific Notes: Karlsson, McCann, Bahl

Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson has been out since November with a lower-body injury, but isn’t particularly close to returning according to Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon. McCrimmon told the media, including Jesse Granger of The Athletic, that Karlsson won’t be able to start the team’s playoff series against the Utah Mammoth and would likely need Vegas to make a deep playoff run to have a chance at returning to the lineup in 2025-26.

Karlsson, 33, already lost the chance to compete at the Winter Olympics for his native Sweden as a result of his injury, and could now end up missing a Golden Knights playoff run as well. Vegas has been in fine form under new head coach John Tortorella, and would surely get a boost from adding one of the team’s best original expansion draft selections. Karlsson scored 30 goals and 60 points in 2023-24, his most recent healthy campaign, and had 29 points in 53 games last year. This season, he scored seven points in 14 games before suffering his injury.

Other notes from around the Pacific Division:

• Seattle Kraken winger Jared McCann told the media today at the team’s exit day that he had a surgical procedure yesterday to “clean some things up” and address the injury that he had been managing over the course of the 2025-26 season. He added that the surgery was related to something he has been also dealt with last offseason, and noted that he expects to be available for the start of next season. Injury took its toll on McCann, who is typically Seattle’s top scorer. The 29-year-old was still productive, scoring 40 points, but was limited to playing in just 52 games. Next season is the final year of his $5MM AAV contract, placing greater stakes on his recovery and ability to author a healthy, productive platform season before potentially hitting unrestricted free agency.
• Calgary Flames defenseman Kevin Bahl told the media, including Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg, that he sustained an MCL injury during the team’s overtime loss to the Dallas Stars on April 7, an injury that cost him the last five games of Calgary’s season. According to Bahl, he won’t need to undergo surgery to recover from the injury. The 25-year-old recently concluded the first season of his six-year, $5.35MM AAV contract extension. He was a top-four defenseman for Calgary this season, averaging 21:56 time on ice per game, including 2:35 per game on the penalty kill.