Mattias Ekholm is damn good

[The Panther]

An Edmonton fan, I saw Ekholm only sporadically in his Nashville days. They had some very good teams when he was there.

When he was traded to Edmonton, I was pleased with the acquisition, though not sure if the Oilers kind of 'wronged' Tyson Barrie, who had done his job very well and was popular with teammates / fans, etc. However, it immediately became clear that acquiring Ekholm was a masterstroke by retired GM Ken Holland.

The first thing it did (in losing Barrie) was to elevate Evan Bouchard to PP quarterback, which he has remained ever since. Bouchard is still a somewhat inconsistent player overall (incl. offensively), but no doubt he a great point-man on the PP and has thrived in that role (and he's generally at his best in the playoffs).

The second thing the Ekholm acquisition did was to give Bouchard his ideal D-partner. Ekholm, the steady and reliable vet, could hold down the fort while Bouchard tried out his skillset on offense.

I did not realize, however, how high a 'hockey IQ" Ekholm had. Despite not being fleet of foot (he's 34 now), he is quite strong offensively, making sharp intelligent passes and cranking in his share of goals as well.

Check out the following stats, which are an aggregate of Ekholm / The Oilers since he was acquired by Edmonton at the end of February 2023:

NHL plus / minus
1. +92 Mattias Ekholm
2. + 81 Gustav Forsling
3. +68 Dylan DeMelo
4. +63 Leon Draisaitl
4. +63 Connor McDavid
(Worst = Philipp Kurashev at minus 74)

Defence Scoring
1. 167 Cale Makar
1. 167 Quinn Hughes
3. 138 Evan Bouchard
. . .
22. Kris Letang 84
23. Mattias Ekholm 81
25. Brent Burns 78

Defence Even-Strength Scoring
1. 100 Quinn Hughes
2. 92 Cale Makar
3. 85 Josh Morrissey
. . .
8. Roman Josi 74
9. Victor Hedman 74
10. Mattias Ekholm 71


Further, since Ekholm's acquisition, the Oilers have been the 2nd-best team in the NHL with a .680 points percentage (just .003 behind Dallas --- a team they eliminated last spring --- for 1st).

The team goals-against has been 8th-best in Ekholm's time with the Oilers (I'd guess that will rise by the end of this season). Since he became an Oiler, Edmonton has been better defensively than Vegas, Washington, or Minnesota, and is just a smidge behind New York and Boston (and they're certainly not doing so because of their goaltending).

In short, all praise Mattias Ekholm!

I was wondering, though, particularly for Nashville fans, how good was he in sum while he was a Predator? The stats suggest that he was quite good, and he picked up a few Norris votes in 2019. But of course most of that attention went to Roman Josi, understandably.

However, since Ekholm has been with Edmonton, he's essentially matched Josi in ES production while being massively more successful in ES results (of course, Josi loses ES minutes because he's on the power-play a lot; nevertheless...).

Josi is the more highly skilled player, no doubt, but I wonder what was Ekholm's reputation while in Nashville? In short, was he always as good as he's been the past two seasons with Edmonton?

Click to read more...

 

[DamonDRW]

Like 99% of fans told you that you're getting an outstanding defender. There is absolutely no surprise about his impact in Edmonton.

 

[BLNY]

Cool.

 

[majormajor]

Like 99% of fans told you that you're getting an outstanding defender. There is absolutely no surprise about his impact in Edmonton.

A little bit of surprise that he is still elite at age 34.

 

[Beauner]

I can’t see or think of him without remembering when Matt Cullen absolutely wrecked his shit in the 2017 finals

 

[Puckstuff]

Ekholm is elite.

Does Nashville regret letting him go? They have sucked ever since.

 

[Vasilevskiy]

The best defender in the oilers easily. Great player.

 

[22FUTON9]

IMO he’s the one guy that really elevated Edmonton to the next tier.

 

[Norwegianoiler]

Ekholm is the long-awaited reply to the call for an all-round, steady, cerebral, top class defenseman to man the Oilers blueline. His skill set hasn't truly been seen since Pronger, who of course had even more nastiness and physicality along side it. Earlier, I have viewed him as a poor man's Hedman, but I am no longer so sure that man is all that poor.

 

[amikaro]

Ekholm has been underrated for a long time. Maybe part of the Nashville treatment.

Josi got underrated while playing along Suter/Weber. Ekholm was performing high level D steadily but got not much publicity. People focussed on Josi, Jones, Ellis, ...

When the Oilers traded him in, I knew he would make Edmontons D much better. Best trade of recent Oilers years ... maybe Hyman is in the mix though.

 

[ijuka]

I'm sure everyone already knows this. Since if Bouchard is the most overrated defenseman in the world and Ekholm-Bouchard is the best defensive pairing in NHL, then if Bouchard is bad, then obviously Ekholm is the Gretzky of defensemen.

 

[tfwnogf]

he sucks.

There. I saved the jynx this thread will bring.

 

[Three On Zero]

Everyone knew Ekholm was a very good defender, it’s why it made no sense for Nashville to move him.

 

[Sheppy]

Always liked Ekholm.

 

[DJJones]

A little bit of surprise that he is still elite at age 34.

That skill set ages well. Offense disappears but defense is solid until they start getting beat on the outside

 

[zar]

Might be the best trade the Oilers ever made.

He came better than advertised.

 

[RickyLafleur]

Ekholm has been underrated for a long time. Maybe part of the Nashville treatment.

Josi got underrated while playing along Suter/Weber. Ekholm was performing high level D steadily but got not much publicity. People focussed on Josi, Jones, Ellis, ...

When the Oilers traded him in, I knew he would make Edmontons D much better. Best trade of recent Oilers years ... maybe Hyman is in the mix though.

Ekholm is a beast, and leads the NHL in +/- since his arrival in Edmonton. Hyman was a free agent signing IIRC. Even though most fans know that Nashville is a D-man factory, nobody could have expected how good how Josi and Ekholm became after they left the shadow of bigger name players.

 

[wmupreds]

Ekholm is elite.

Does Nashville regret letting him go? They have sucked ever since.

The move made sense in the context of what we thought the Preds FO was trying to do at the time. The moves they've made since then put it into question (also, they can't seem to decide what they want to do in the big picture).

 

[Bank Shot]

Edmonton has a real good top 3.
Bouchard has great offense.
Ekholm and Nurse are great all arounders.

Crazy Ekholm is getting so much praise and Nurse so much scorn when they are tied in points, and Nurse plays top minutes with the leftovers rather than getting a partner like Bouchard.

Real solid top 3. Kulak is a great bottom pairing guy and can flex into the top 4 when needed. The other guys aren't a weak link which is important for bottom pairing.

Still think there is room to upgrade at the deadline.

 

[ManofSteel55]

Like 99% of fans told you that you're getting an outstanding defender. There is absolutely no surprise about his impact in Edmonton.

We knew we were getting an incredible defensive player. I don't think most of us saw the impact he was going to have offensively.

Edmonton has a real good top 3.
Bouchard has great offense.
Ekholm and Nurse are great all arounders.

Crazy Ekholm is getting so much praise and Nurse so much scorn when they are tied in points, and Nurse plays top minutes with the leftovers rather than getting a partner like Bouchard.

Real solid top 3. Kulak is a great bottom pairing guy and can flex into the top 4 when needed. The other guys aren't a weak link which is important for bottom pairing.

Still think there is room to upgrade at the deadline.

Nurse has been just as good as Ekholm this year. The Oilers legitimately have 3 top pairing defensemen this year, although one of those (Bouchard) needs some consistency.

 

[NOTENOUGHRYJOTHINGS]

An Edmonton fan, I saw Ekholm only sporadically in his Nashville days. They had some very good teams when he was there.

When he was traded to Edmonton, I was pleased with the acquisition, though not sure if the Oilers kind of 'wronged' Tyson Barrie, who had done his job very well and was popular with teammates / fans, etc. However, it immediately became clear that acquiring Ekholm was a masterstroke by retired GM Ken Holland.

The first thing it did (in losing Barrie) was to elevate Evan Bouchard to PP quarterback, which he has remained ever since. Bouchard is still a somewhat inconsistent player overall (incl. offensively), but no doubt he a great point-man on the PP and has thrived in that role (and he's generally at his best in the playoffs).

The second thing the Ekholm acquisition did was to give Bouchard his ideal D-partner. Ekholm, the steady and reliable vet, could hold down the fort while Bouchard tried out his skillset on offense.

I did not realize, however, how high a 'hockey IQ" Ekholm had. Despite not being fleet of foot (he's 34 now), he is quite strong offensively, making sharp intelligent passes and cranking in his share of goals as well.

Check out the following stats, which are an aggregate of Ekholm / The Oilers since he was acquired by Edmonton at the end of February 2023:

NHL plus / minus
1. +92 Mattias Ekholm
2. + 81 Gustav Forsling
3. +68 Dylan DeMelo
4. +63 Leon Draisaitl
4. +63 Connor McDavid
(Worst = Philipp Kurashev at minus 74)

Defence Scoring
1. 167 Cale Makar
1. 167 Quinn Hughes
3. 138 Evan Bouchard
. . .
22. Kris Letang 84
23. Mattias Ekholm 81
25. Brent Burns 78

Defence Even-Strength Scoring
1. 100 Quinn Hughes
2. 92 Cale Makar
3. 85 Josh Morrissey
. . .
8. Roman Josi 74
9. Victor Hedman 74
10. Mattias Ekholm 71


Further, since Ekholm's acquisition, the Oilers have been the 2nd-best team in the NHL with a .680 points percentage (just .003 behind Dallas --- a team they eliminated last spring --- for 1st).

The team goals-against has been 8th-best in Ekholm's time with the Oilers (I'd guess that will rise by the end of this season). Since he became an Oiler, Edmonton has been better defensively than Vegas, Washington, or Minnesota, and is just a smidge behind New York and Boston (and they're certainly not doing so because of their goaltending).

In short, all praise Mattias Ekholm!

I was wondering, though, particularly for Nashville fans, how good was he in sum while he was a Predator? The stats suggest that he was quite good, and he picked up a few Norris votes in 2019. But of course most of that attention went to Roman Josi, understandably.

However, since Ekholm has been with Edmonton, he's essentially matched Josi in ES production while being massively more successful in ES results (of course, Josi loses ES minutes because he's on the power-play a lot; nevertheless...).

Josi is the more highly skilled player, no doubt, but I wonder what was Ekholm's reputation while in Nashville? In short, was he always as good as he's been the past two seasons with Edmonton?

Was it really necessary to throw shade at my boy Philipp Kurashev?

Ekholm is great. He's been a revelation and to be honest prior to his acquisition I would argue the Oilers had no legit shot at contending. Ceci Nurse Barrie Kulak does not make a top 4 of a cup winner.

But Philipp Kurashev tries his best.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

He was an amazing addition by the Oilers, such a good trade

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Phfff he’s no Lane Hutson though

 

[kerrabria]

I knew Ekholm was good, but I didn't realize how good until the 2024 playoffs. Insane that Bouchard gets the credit. Ekholm is a stud defensively, moves the puck well, and has offensive tools. A true 1D, probably Top 15 in league.

 

[Fourier]

Might be the best trade the Oilers ever made.

He came better than advertised.

I've been an Oiler fan since the first days of the WHA and I actually agree with this assessment.