Erik Karlsson Erik Karlsson ( born May 31 , 1990 ) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman , currently playing and serving as captain for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . He was selected 15th overall by the Senators in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft . Playing career . Karlsson made his Elitserien debut for Frölunda HC on March 1 , 2008 , recording 8 : 48 of ice time during a sold out home game in Scandinavium , against league leaders HV71 . Karlsson scored the game winning goal , assisted by Tomi Kallio and Magnus Kahnberg , with a slapshot off a faceoff , in overtime during a man advantage . The win secured a playoff berth for Frölunda with three games remaining of the regular season . Karlsson finished the season with Frölunda ' s J20 team playing in the J20 SuperElit playoffs , where Frölunda took home the Anton Cup when they won two to one in games against Brynäs IF in the Swedish Junior Ice Hockey Championship final . Prior to the 2008 NHL Entry Draft , Karlsson was ranked fourth among European skaters by the NHL ' s Central Scouting Service . He was drafted 15th overall by the Ottawa Senators , in front of their hometown fans at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa , Ontario . The selection was made by Ottawa ' s captain Daniel Alfredsson , a native of Gothenburg , who played for Frölunda before entering the NHL . Ottawa ' s general manager , Bryan Murray , traded Ottawa ' s first round pick , 18th overall , and their third round pick in 2009 to the Nashville Predators for the Predators ' first round pick , 15th overall , to ensure that no other team would pick Karlsson before them . A few weeks before the 2008 – 09 Elitserien season premiere , Frölunda announced that Karlsson was brought up to the senior team as a regular roster player . In September 2009 , Karlsson attended the Ottawa Senators training camp with a chance at joining the squad even at junior age . On September 29 , 2009 , the Senators announced that Karlsson had made the team ' s roster and would start the 2009 – 10 season in Ottawa . However , after struggling in nine regular season games with Ottawa , Karlsson was assigned to the Binghamton Senators . On November 27 , 2009 , exactly a month after being sent down , Karlsson was recalled from Binghamton . He would score his first NHL goal against Minnesota ' s Niklas Bäckström in a 4 - 1 win for Ottawa on December 19 and remain in the NHL for the remainder of the season and play in all of Ottawa ' s playoff games . Karlsson was selected to participate in the 2011 NHL All - Star Game , set for Jan . 30 at the RBC Center in Raleigh , N . C . , having recorded 25 points in 41 games . In the 2013 - 14 season , Karlsson finished with 74 points in 82 games . On October 2nd 2014 , Karlsson was named the 9th captain of the Ottawa Senators replacing Jason Spezza . International play . Karlsson was selected as the tournament ' s best defenceman at the 2008 IIHF World U18 Championships . He was the tournament ' s plus / minus leader with a plus eight rating , and he led team Sweden in assists , finishing third overall in the tournament , with seven in six games , which also tied him for first place in defencemen scoring . During the 2008 U20 4 - Nations tournament which Sweden won , Karlsson scored one goal and one assist which tied him with David Rundblad , Viktor Ekbom , and Tim Erixon as Sweden ' s defenceman scoring leader . At the 2009 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships Karlsson was selected to the all - star team , and as the tournament ' s best defenceman . With two goals and seven assists in six games he led all Swedish players in points , and was tied for the tournament lead among defencemen . Karlsson played at the 2010 World Championships and was the highest scoring defenseman for Sweden with one goal and three assists in nine games . In the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics , Karlsson tied first place in points with Phil Kessel and he got 8 points in 6 games . He also won the Best Defenceman award for the Ice Hockey Event at the Sochi Olympics . Personal Life . Erik Karlsson is divorced to Therese Karlsson .