Breaking the Mold: Erik Karlsson's Journey to 1,000 NHL Games

Alfredsson had the honor of stepping up to the podium and making it official. Spezza, who was close with Murray, remembers how excited he was about the pick – “he's like, 'wait till you see this kid, he's dominant, he's this and that, he's the next great offensive defenseman, he was a steal in the draft'” – but took it with a grain of salt, as most GMs feel strongly about the kids they add into the organization. With Alfredsson being from Gothenburg, which is home to Frolunda of the Swedish League, Ottawa played an exhibition game against the organization. It's gonna be really exciting, it'll be cool to see him,” Spezza said before adding with a laugh, “Then I saw him and I was like, he looks like he's the stick boy.