C/LW William Eklund - San Jose Sharks, NHL (2021, 7th, SJS)

[Reddawg]

Eklund has said before that the plan has been to stay in Sweden for another year. But I too would make sure to get it out there if I thought it could scare Buffalo off from drafting me lol. Feel bad for their fans what a mess of a franchise.


But if he ends up there it would obviously be very cool if he could play a big part in turning that team around

Getting tired of the narrative that any prospect in the draft would choose not to go 1st overall to avoid landing in Buffalo. There isn’t a single one of them that wouldn’t do a backfip with happiness over being selected 1st, no matter the team.

 

[lawrence]

I'll go out on a whim, I think Eklund's the best prospect of this class. Go ahead and throw your tomatoes.

Sure

hes 5’10 170, lacks speed and strength and potentially be a rag dollable player come the playoffs. So like a nylander or Ehlers but lacks speed. Great prospect though.

 

[bsu]

Sure

hes 5’10 170, lacks speed and strength and potentially be a rag dollable player come the playoffs. So like a nylander or Ehlers but lacks speed. Great prospect though.

Id say more like Zetterberg.

 

[VIPettersson]

Sure

hes 5’10 170, lacks speed and strength and potentially be a rag dollable player come the playoffs. So like a nylander or Ehlers but lacks speed. Great prospect though.

I would argue that what hes doing without your perception of speed/strength makes him all more enticing. Imagine what he could do if he could improve those areas of this game then? I don't see him like Nylander or Ehlers at all though.

 

[Tetsuo]

Getting tired of the narrative that any prospect in the draft would choose not to go 1st overall to avoid landing in Buffalo. There isn’t a single one of them that wouldn’t do a backfip with happiness over being selected 1st, no matter the team.

Yeah people expecting a Lindros-type situation to play out are ridiculous. That stemmed from a personal grudge between Lindros and the Nordiques ownership. The Pegulas, although potentially meddlesome, are highly unlikely to have such bad blood in the industry that a player would hold out if they were drafted.

 

[ZEBROA]

The draft is far more exciting then the final was. Hope eklund goes to a good organisation.

 

[toomuchsauce]

Sure

hes 5’10 170, lacks speed and strength and potentially be a rag dollable player come the playoffs. So like a nylander or Ehlers but lacks speed. Great prospect though.

The playoffs is when smaller guys like Brayden Point, Kucherov, Suzuki and Barzal disappear. I didn't really watch the playoffs though, so I'm just assuming this is correct.

 

[lawrence]

Brayden Point, Kucherov,

Yup. the same playoffs when Nylander, Ehlers, Yamamoto, Kaprizov, Kevin Fiala, Mikael Granlund disappeared. but yea if you didn't watch the playoffs maybe don't comment.

 

[Hisch13r]

Yup. the same playoffs when Nylander, Ehlers, Yamamoto, Kaprizov, Kevin Fiala, Mikael Granlund disappeared. but yea if you didn't watch the playoffs maybe don't comment.

Tell me you didn’t watch Nylander play without telling me you didn’t watch Nylander play.

 

[molotce]

Tell me you didn’t watch Nylander play without telling me you didn’t watch Nylander play.

And although he didnt 'explode', no one on the wild did or had more point than kaprizov while him being the only offensive threat to focus on with fiala

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Yeah people expecting a Lindros-type situation to play out are ridiculous. That stemmed from a personal grudge between Lindros and the Nordiques ownership. The Pegulas, although potentially meddlesome, are highly unlikely to have such bad blood in the industry that a player would hold out if they were drafted.

I don't think anyone is expecting a Lindros to play out. Any player picked, let alone 1st overall, is immensely proud and excited to be selected. But it has to be in the back of their minds of those picked in the first 10 or so that they're going to one of the worst teams in the league and it's an uphill battle from there. And especially going to a team like Buffalo after having tied the record for 10 straight years outside of the postseason! They also have the lead in the NHL with 8 top 10 picks on their roster! You'd have to be insane to not have some trepidation walking into that scenario.

 

[kilowatt]

I'd be ecstatic if he somehow fell to 8, but I really doubt he makes it that far.

 

[vildurson]

Yup. the same playoffs when Nylander, Ehlers, Yamamoto, Kaprizov, Kevin Fiala, Mikael Granlund disappeared. but yea if you didn't watch the playoffs maybe don't comment.

I thought Kaprizov and Nylander were best wingers to their teams in these playoffs tho? Not exactly their fault if somebody like Matthews or Marner go away during playoffs or when stakes are really high.

It was realistic to expect that Minnesota wont get past Vegas anyway. They pretty much performed as expected.

Minnesota should be much more interesting team next year if Rossi can make it to the big club and they can keep Kaprizov on the team.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Eklund is primarily a winger, correct? I know he is listed as a C/LW but when was the last 'big' stage he played 'C'?

I had Beniers as our 2nd overall pick but I am starting to warm up to the idea of Eklund as that pick as well.

 

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

Can't understand Buffalo having Eklund as their possible #1 pick, In the NHL Eklund translates to a Top 6 LW if Adams is seeking a potential #1 Center to replace Jack Eichel then you go with Matty Beniers at #1 not William Eklund.

 

[Osakahaus]

Can't understand Buffalo having Eklund as their possible #1 pick, In the NHL Eklund translates to a Top 6 LW if Adams is seeking a potential #1 Center to replace Jack Eichel then you go with Matty Beniers at #1 not William Eklund.

They think of Eklund as someone to pair with Eichel, thats why. Im starting to think that they wanna trade Reinhart now instead of him but who knows. Buffalo somehow has this draft known better than all of us, then they better show me. Their best selection these past five years is dahlin, and that was a gimmie

 

[Legionnaire]

I'd be ecstatic if he somehow fell to 8, but I really doubt he makes it that far.

It wouldn't make me mad.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

They think of Eklund as someone to pair with Eichel, thats why. Im starting to think that they wanna trade Reinhart now instead of him but who knows. Buffalo somehow has this draft known better than all of us, then they better show me. Their best selection these past five years is dahlin, and that was a gimmie

They fired their scouting staff at the beginning of the year to save money. How can they really know this draft class better than others?

I think that Kevyn Adams is voll scheisse when he's saying they value this draft more. He sounds like a guy that's just saying what the bosses want to hear.

 

[Osakahaus]

They fired their scouting staff at the beginning of the year to save money. How can they really know this draft class better than others?

I think that Kevyn Adams is voll scheisse when he's saying they value this draft more. He sounds like a guy that's just saying what the bosses want to hear.

Somehow they said they know it better. Doesn't mean that we can't laugh at them when someone like Yzerman probably did his homework months before and knows about some later round players

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

They fired their scouting staff at the beginning of the year to save money. How can they really know this draft class better than others?

I think that Kevyn Adams is voll scheisse when he's saying they value this draft more. He sounds like a guy that's just saying what the bosses want to hear.

I don’t think having a bigger and more expensive scouting staff means your draft will be better. It could be, but you are guessing on prospects with a big staff or a small staff. It’s not as if having a small staff means the guys they pick won’t be good picks for the draft slot. It doesn’t even mean they won’t pick some more unknown players.

 

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

I'd be ecstatic if he somehow fell to 8, but I really doubt he makes it that far.

Nope he wouldn't get past Detroit at #6.

 

[Timeless Winter]

Anyone else have a feeling he'll be th best player out of this draft? Not sure why most mocks have him outside the top 3 or 4.

 

[BananaSquad]

Can't understand Buffalo having Eklund as their possible #1 pick, In the NHL Eklund translates to a Top 6 LW if Adams is seeking a potential #1 Center to replace Jack Eichel then you go with Matty Beniers at #1 not William Eklund.

Eklund > Beniers. Don’t care what position they play.

 

[vildurson]

Anyone else have a feeling he'll be th best player out of this draft? Not sure why most mocks have him outside the top 3 or 4.

It feels to me that at least right NOW, he is pretty close to being the best player in this draft. At least that is the case of what I feel for him now. I don't know how it translates to NHL yet though.

I would like to say that Power or Clarke are both quite close to him though.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

I don’t think having a bigger and more expensive scouting staff means your draft will be better. It could be, but you are guessing on prospects with a big staff or a small staff. It’s not as if having a small staff means the guys they pick won’t be good picks for the draft slot. It doesn’t even mean they won’t pick some more unknown players.

So...Buffalo firing their scouts and having none for much of the season, including none in I believe Russia, Sweden and Finland...is good?

I can't tell if you're trolling or not dude.