No, not that Karlsson, silly.

For a 7th round pick, the Hawks have picked up former Flames backup Henrik Karlsson. What it means, I can’t tell you. But I don’t think it’s simply because of Carter Hutton’s upcoming suspension in the AHL, as the Hogs had already called up Kent Simpson to back up Alec Richards for that. At least I think. It could be that Stan saw what we all saw last night from Emery, and thinks it’s something more than just rustiness and lack of games in the past eight months.

What Karlsson brings is a big frame, which the Hawks seem to like as it probably means he’s in his crease and his defenders know where he’ll be. That doesn’t mean he’s going to stop the puck while everyone knows where he is, however. Karlsson has only had 26 appearances the past two seasons in the Flames continuing attempts to turn Mikka Kiprusoff into flubber. In that limited sample he’s got a .905 SV% and a 2.79 GAA. His performance two years ago in 17 appearances of .908 and 2.58 would probably just clear the acceptable hurdle considering what kind of dog-breath he was playing behind in Calgary.

But it doesn’t look like Karlsson has played anywhere this season, and would face the same sharpness issues as Emery. Guess someone is going to have to explain this one to us.

Update: Karlsson has been assigned to The Rock, but not clear if he’s there to get in shape to replace Emery or to just fill in for Hutton while he’s on “leave.”