Sharks’ Erik Karlsson expresses reservations about playing in 2022 Olympics

San Jose Sharks defenceman Erik Karlsson expressed his reservations about playing in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, citing concerns over the potential of a three-to-five week quarantine if he were to test positive for COVID-19 at the Games.

“Most of the issues are public knowledge,” Karlsson said Wednesday, according to NBC Sports reporter Sheng Peng. “If that’s the way it’s going to be, I don’t see it being very feasible for guys to take that risk. That’s my personal opinion.”

Though the Athletes’ Playbook for the Games, which was released earlier this week, does not specifically outline a three-to-five week quarantine, players have been warned that is the worst-case scenario under Chinese law. Players have also been told that, no matter what the guidelines say, the government makes the rules and can adjust them at any time.

The Playbook does lay out other specifics about what players should expect at the Games, however, as detailed in the Elliotte Friedman’s latest 32 Thoughts blog:

• If you have a confirmed positive test: You will not be allowed to compete/continue your role. If you are symptomatic, you will be asked to stay at the designated hospital for treatment. If you are asymptomatic, you will be asked to stay in an isolation facility.

• At a hospital, you will be discharged when: Your body temperature returns to normal for three consecutive days; respiratory symptoms improve significantly; lung imaging shows significant improvement; you have two consecutive negative PCR test results with a sample interval of at least 24 hours; and you display no other COVID-19 symptoms.

• At an isolation facility: You will be tested every day, beginning 24 hours after your last test. You will be discharged once you have two consecutive negative PCR test results with at least 24 hours between the two samples and no other COVID-19 symptoms.

“Me, having a family, I can’t take that risk,” Karlsson, who would play for Team Sweden at the Games, said. “There’s a lot of other people that probably feel the same way even though I haven’t talked to too many guys.”

If Karlsson decided not to be an Olympic participant, it would mark the second player from Sweden who has publicly said they will abstain from playing. Goaltender Robin Lehner withdrew his name from consideration earlier in the year, citing mental health concerns.

Karlsson is far from the first NHLer to express their hesitancy about competing in Beijing, though, joining the likes of Canadians Alex Pietrangelo, Connor McDavid and John Tavares, as well as American Auston Matthews.

Pietrangelo, who has been named to Canada’s provisional Olympic team, said recently he is waiting until he gets more information before making his choice.

“There’s a lot of things, especially guys with families, that we’re taking a look at,” he said. “I’m not going to make a decision until we get all the answers, because I think those are hard to come by right now.”

McDavid shared a similar sentiment, stressing the need for players to continue collecting all available facts before making a final decision, though the possibility of an extended quarantine in China was one he called “unsettling.”

“It’s obviously going to be a very fluid situation,” McDavid said Tuesday before the Edmonton Oilers hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs. “There hasn’t been a ton of information come out, and then there’s that three-to-five week (quarantine) thing … it’s kind of been floating around.

“Obviously, it’s unsettling if that were to be the case when you go over there.”

Matthews, who would be a focal point for the United States, said he’s “playing it by ear” as he awaits answers, noting he would “love to go” and “love to compete,” though “there’s definitely some things that a lot of us would like to see worked out.”

“We all hope to go,” added Leafs captain Tavares, in the mix to be McDavid’s teammate in Beijing. “But clearly things are a little more uneasy than they were.”


Editor’s Note: The COVID-19 situation, in the NHL and around the world, is constantly evolving. Readers in Canada can consult the country’s public health website for the latest.


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