Pictured, from left to right: Erik Karlsson, Jason Spezza. Not pictured: a god.

Erik Karlsson has had a mediocre start to the season, with a paltry 10 points in his first 11 games. He's barely keeping pace with the league's top forwards!

Okay, he's putting up the points. But so are his opponents when he's on the ice (which he basically always is). Karlsson's defensive coverage and puck management have been suspect at times. Friday night versus the Anaheim Ducks, for instance, Karlsson coughed up a puck that eventually turned into Ryan Getzlaf's game-winner.

He was better versus the San Jose Sharks, much better, with a goal, an assist, and 9 shots on net in 29:29 of icetime. It was his best game of the season. But the Senators still dropped the contest, 5-2, and are now a dismal 4-5-2 on the year, which is why, even after a stat line like that, many are looking to the former Norris trophy winner to do even more to bring the Senators back to life.

On Monday, Karlsson fired back at the high expectations, and if Joe Thornton's rooster comment hadn't already made the rounds, I think you could call this the quote of the year:

Erik Karlsson says it's hard to live up to media expectations. "You guys have talked about me like I'm some (effing) god or something." — Wayne Scanlan (@HockeyScanner) October 28, 2013

Hold up. Not a god? Huh. Take notes, Kanye West. It's not that hard to say.

That's quite the quote, and I think we can all agree that Karlsson is neither way, nor truth, nor life. But will it ease expectations?

Probably not. Unfortunately for Karlsson, expectations for the Senators are sky-high, and he had a pretty big hand in getting them there. Really, the only way to ease the burden of expectations at this point is to continue on the path to a losing season, and something tells me his frustration, while directly at the media, is tied up mostly in wanting to avoid that.

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Harrison Mooney is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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