His dad played professional hockey and taught him a lot. Mostly, how to be aggressive. Not something one sees much in skilled players.He’s a little bit like a robot constantly training itself to get better. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a player process their own problems and then improve upon them so quickly and efficiently. He’s incredibly cerebral and one of those key cogs to a Stanley Cup winner. Put a pure high end sniper on his line and he’s going to put up a ton of points.
In fact, I think he’s going to have a big second half of the season. He’s a really special player.
To elaborate on this:Yeah.
The comparison that Sheng showed in his recent article really showed how unnatural it was for him before this season. His form is pretty nice now. Like good weight transfer for power without having to throw his whole body into it.His shot progression has been fun to watch. I wonder what it'll be like in a few years.
ftfyHe's going to put up 80 goals next year!
His dad was a grinderHis dad played professional hockey and taught him a lot. Mostly, how to be aggressive. Not something one sees much in skilled players.
Who was worried about Eklund after his first 9 game stint? He showed he had the talent to play at this level even back then, just that he was trying things at the NHL level that maybe would not work or would get him injured by opening him up for a big hit.I love him. That's all.
Actually, hmm, I would say what I'm most impressed by outside of his shot improvement is his physical improvement. Remember how worried we were for him a couple years ago when he debuted? Now he's mucking it up with guys practically twice his size and looks really hard to knock off the puck, let alone off his feet.
He's on a 43 point pace so it's possibleTo elaborate on this:
2 points in his first 11 games
12 points in his last 18 games
Dual threat to pass or to shoot, plays well at all strengths (PP, EV, PK), four GWG so far, plays with an edge and is surprisingly physical considering his stature. I said at the beginning of the year that if Eklund put up 40 points this year I would be happy. Think he could exceed that now.