Golden Knights’ William Karlsson on cusp of stardom

Brad Howard and Marcus Acuna co-own two toy stores in the Las Vegas Valley, and Funko Pop figures are one of their best-selling items.

This summer, word spread that Golden Knights center William Karlsson would be featured in the next line of NHL plastic collectibles later this year.

“For a random character or athlete, we would preorder 36. With Karlsson, we’re planning to order three times that, at least,” Acuna said. “People are going crazy. This is a highly anticipated release.”

If goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury remains the face of the second-year franchise, Karlsson is the Knights’ matinee idol.

He’s on billboards and TV commercials.

He’s recognized almost every time he goes out in public.

And, yes, he’ll soon be on a collectible toy with an oversized head and beady eyes.

“Obviously he should,” linemate Jonathan Marchessault said. “He got 43 goals last year.”

Karlsson went from an anonymous bottom-six forward when he was selected from Columbus in the expansion draft to a budding star thanks to his breakout season with the Knights.

It made for a busy summer for the 25-year-old from Marsta, Sweden.

“You want to be a good player, and I guess you want the attention, too. I’m just enjoying it,” Karlsson said. “You’ve got to learn to say no, which I think I’m pretty good at. If I don’t feel like doing anything, I just tell them no. I had to say no to media requests back in Sweden just because there were so many. I wanted to chill. Play (the popular video game) ‘Fortnite.’”

Karlsson took over as the Knight’s No. 1 center in late October and led the team with 78 points.

He was third in the league in goals after scoring six in his final season with the Blue Jackets, and his 37-goal improvement matched the third-largest year-to-year jump in NHL history.

“He’s a well-rounded player up and down the ice,” linemate Reilly Smith said. “He’s good defensively, strong on the puck. He’s a great skater. The sky’s the limit for him, and I think you saw that last year. I think he’s excited about the challenge ahead.”

Karlsson earned the Lady Byng Trophy, which goes to the NHL’s most gentlemanly player, and also received votes for the Hart Trophy (MVP) and Selke Trophy (top defensive forward).

His league-leading plus-minus rating (plus-49) was the best by any player since Washington’s Jeff Schultz in 2009-10.

“Karly was just a natural scorer last year. But he’s another guy who’s so good defensively,” Marchessault said. “We always talk about (Los Angeles’ Anze) Kopitar, (Florida’s Aleksander) Barkov. We definitely need to put Karly in that group.”

Karlsson avoided salary arbitration in August and signed a one-year, $5.25 million contract, which represents a substantial raise over his $1 million salary in 2017-18.

He will be a restricted free agent again this summer and is in line for a long-term contract extension should he prove last season’s performance wasn’t a one-off.

“I just try to work like I always have,” Karlsson said. “I want to try to stay a goal scorer. But overall, I just want to stay at this level. That’s what I’m aiming for.”

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Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.