7-foot-1 Sharks prospect Alexander Karmanov drops gloves with Kings rookie in wild viral brawl
Most guys won’t try to pick a fight with a 7-foot-1, 280-pound hockey player.
Liam Lefebvre is not most guys.
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The Los Angeles Kings prospect dropped the gloves with San Jose Sharks prospect Alexander Karmanov — the tallest player ever selected in the NHL Draft — Saturday during the 2026 Rookie Faceoff.
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New San Jose Sharks draft pick Alexander Karmanov (84) practices with the team at Sharks Ice at San Jose in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
It’s one of the more ridiculous size mismatches you’ll ever see in a hockey fight.
The trouble started late in the third period of San Jose’s eventual 8-1 win when Karmanov flattened Kings defenseman Jakub Dvorak in the neutral zone. Dvorak stayed down with an upper-body injury, prompting several Kings players to confront Karmanov.
Then Lefebvre stepped up.
For the record, Lefebvre is listed at 6-foot-3 — a perfectly large human being under almost any other circumstance.
But against Karmanov, he looked like somebody’s little brother.
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Liam Lefebvre, the 46th overall pick of the Los Angeles Kings, poses for a portrait during Day 2 of the 2026 NHL Draft at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y., on June 27, 2026. (Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)
The two dropped the gloves, and Karmanov predictably used his enormous reach advantage before Lefebvre eventually went to the ice. Karmanov then skated toward the penalty box waving his arms and demanding more noise from the San Jose crowd.
The Sharks selected Karmanov with the 201st overall pick in June’s NHL Draft, making the Moldova-born defenseman the tallest player ever drafted into the league.
New San Jose Sharks draft pick Alexander Karmanov (84) is embraced by his teammates after a practice at Sharks Ice at San Jose in San Jose, Calif. on Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Photo by Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
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Afterward, Karmanov said the fight was simply part of how the game unfolded.
“I asked the guy if he wanted to go,” Karmanov told reporters. “Yeah, we went.”
They sure did.
