So long, captain: A timeline of Erik Karlsson's wildly eventful Senators career

That's it. Erik Karlsson is no longer an Ottawa Senator.

After months of waiting for the hammer to fall, the league's top blue-liner was dealt to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for an immediately underwhelming package of six assets Thursday in a deal that shook the hockey world off its axis.

Karlsson wraps up his Senators tenure as one of the greatest players in franchise history, and certainly the best defenseman. While he'll continue his trajectory toward the Hockey Hall of Fame elsewhere, it would be unjust to discount all that occurred and all he accomplished over his nine-year career in Ottawa.

Let's reflect.

June 20, 2008 - Sens draft Karlsson

Ottawa hosted the 2008 draft, and after brokering a trade with the Nashville Predators to move up two spots, the late Bryan Murray drafted a tiny, dynamic blue-liner out of Frolunda 15th overall.

The hometown fans weren't overly receptive to the decision to take the slender Karlsson, but Murray was investing in his upside, and when you consider Zach Bogosian, Luke Schenn, and Colten Teubert were among the six defenders selected earlier, Karlsson landing in the nation's capital was an absolute steal.

Dec. 19, 2009 - First NHL goal

Karlsson returned to Sweden for one season after he was drafted but made the Senators out of camp in 2009-10. He was briefly sent down to the AHL early on but returned to the big club and buried his first NHL goal - a booming one-timer - versus the Minnesota Wild.

Karlsson completed his rookie campaign suiting up in 60 games, registering five goals and 21 assists.

2011-12 - A star emerges

In his third NHL season, Karlsson's path toward superstardom was clear.

He paced all rearguards with 78 points in 81 games, 25 points ahead of Dustin Byfuglien and Brian Campbell in second place. Karlsson averaged over 25 minutes per night, led all blue-liners in shots, and ranked second with 28 power-play points en route to his first Norris Trophy and a first-team All-Star selection. By earning top defenseman honors, he joined legends Bobby Orr and Denis Potvin as the only players to win the award before turning 23 years old.

After his breakout season, Karlsson signed a seven-year, $45.5-million contract with Ottawa.

Feb. 13, 2013: The Cooke incidentJoe Sargent / National Hockey League / Getty

After managing 10 points through the first 14 games of the lockout-shortened season, Karlsson saw his campaign derailed after Pittsburgh Penguins pest Matt Cooke rode him into the boards, lacerating his Achilles tendon with an errant skate blade.

The debate over Cooke's intentions was highly controversial at the time, and while the perpetual agitator avoided suspension, Karlsson was given a recovery timeline of four-to-six months. However, in typical superhuman fashion, No. 65 returned to the ice after missing only 10 weeks and put up eight points in 10 playoff games before the Sens were eliminated by Cooke's Penguins in Round 2.

Oct. 2, 2014 - Karlsson named captain

Prior to puck drop on the 2014-15 season, Karlsson was named the ninth captain in Senators history, succeeding the recently traded Jason Spezza.

Karlsson was coming off a season in which he recorded 74 points for the 21st-place Senators, yet inexplicably finished seventh in Norris voting. But in his follow-up act, he simply continued being his dominant self and was accordingly awarded his second Norris Trophy at season's end.

In his first campaign with the "C" on his chest, Karlsson once again paced all at his position with 66 points, 292 shots, and 30 power-play points. He also finished third in ice time, logging 27:15 per contest as the Senators made their way back to the postseason.

2015-16 - His best yetJana Chytilova / National Hockey League / Getty

Karlsson's 2015-16 season was one for the history books.

He appeared in all 82 games and established a new career high in points with 82 - good enough to finish in a tie for fourth in the league scoring race with Joe Thornton. Karlsson also established a new NHL record for points in a season by a Swedish blue-liner, eclipsing the great Nicklas Lidstrom's benchmark of 81 in 2005-06. If that's not enough, he became the first defenseman since Paul Coffey in 1985-86 to finish in the top five in scoring, and the first since Orr in 1974-75 to lead the league in assists (66).

In spite of his earth-shattering showing, Karlsson was again snubbed in Norris voting, this time coming in behind Drew Doughty - who he topped in virtually every statistical category - for second place.

Spring 2017 - The playoff run

The most memorable stretch of Karlsson's tenure in Ottawa came during the 2017 playoffs when the Senators defied all odds and came within one goal of their second Stanley Cup Final appearance.

Karlsson played a huge role in Ottawa's unlikely success, leading the club with 18 points in 19 games and routinely torturing opponents with highlight-reel setup after highlight-reel setup. His performances thrust him onto the Connor McDavid-and-Sidney Crosby-led shortlist of the world's best players and even garnered a Conn Smythe vote despite missing out on the finals.

Perhaps most impressively, Karlsson still managed to dominate while nowhere near 100 percent healthy. Once the curtain closed on his club's miracle run, Karlsson promptly underwent surgery to repair torn tendons in his foot and had half his ankle bone removed in the procedure.

2017-18: The unravelingJana Chytilova/Freestyle Photo / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Optimism was high in Ottawa entering last season, and it's truly unbelievable how quickly things came crashing down. Earth's most decorated historians will struggle to fully document all that went wrong with the 2017-18 Senators, but here we'll try to encapsulate Karlsson's presence among the turmoil.

• Karlsson misses the first five games of the season as he continues to recover from surgery
• Dec. 1: Karlsson says he's going to get what he's worth on his next contract
• Dec. 11: In the midst of a one-win-in-12-game stretch, Karlsson says he wants to win in Ottawa
• Dec. 13: General manager Pierre Dorion says the Sens want Karlsson for life
• Dec. 18: Karlsson addresses owner Eugene Melnyk's relocation comments: "That's none of our business"
• Feb. 27: Karlsson denies ever requesting a trade out of Ottawa after a month's worth of rumors surrounding his availability at the deadline
• March 7: Karlsson silently sits beside Melnyk for an annual team photo
• April 2: Karlsson retrieves puck following what was potentially his final home game
• June 12: Wife Melinda applies for a peace bond against former teammate Mike Hoffman's girlfriend, Monika Caryk, for online harassment
• July 1: Sens offer Karlsson a contract extension reportedly worth $10M per season
• July 2: Sens are said to give other teams permission to negotiate with Karlsson
• July 5: Sens and Lightning reportedly work on trade, though nothing materializes
• Aug 24: Karlsson denies report of being unwilling to sign a contract with a Canadian team

Sept. 13, 2018 - Dealt to San Jose

So there we have it. The Sharks add the best defenseman in the world to a group that already features fellow Norris winner Brent Burns and the ever-consistent Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Meanwhile, the Senators are set to embark on a scorched-earth rebuild without their best and most iconic player at a juncture when the disconnect between the organization and its fan base is at an all-time high.

Karlsson finishes his Senators career with 518 points in 627 games (0.82 points per game) to go with (somehow only) two Norris Trophies and four first-team All-Star selections. He ranks third in franchise history in both points and assists and sits eighth in games played now that it's all said and done.

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