William Eklund

[Jargon]

Agreed! Every time I'll say "oh no...", because it's so predictable. Then more often than not, he actually pulls it off.


No arguments here. I'd say he's "good, but not great" at most aspects of the game. That's good enough for me. He's a likeable player that pays attention to the little details. He should be a huge part of our future.

Yeah I think the spin moves works because it’s so sharp and unpredictable and he does it on a dime. His timing is also impeccable and he almost always knows the exact moment to try it.

I’d say his elite talents are his playmaking, his hockey brain and his shiftiness. I still remember when people kept trying to destroy him with big checks and just smash into the wall.

His shot has gotten a lot better, I’m hopeful he’ll keep working on it (and as he continues to get stronger so will the shot).

I adore the player. He’s so likable and fun to watch.

 

[The Nemesis]

He's alright I guess.

Could probably learn a thing or two from Kunin.

 

[hohosaregood]

Lock him up with an 8x8 ASAP

 

[TheBigDrunkPanda]

Lock him up with an 8x8 ASAP

At 8x7

 

[CanadienShark]

Yeah I think the spin moves works because it’s so sharp and unpredictable and he does it on a dime. His timing is also impeccable and he almost always knows the exact moment to try it.

I’d say his elite talents are his playmaking, his hockey brain and his shiftiness. I still remember when people kept trying to destroy him with big checks and just smash into the wall.

His shot has gotten a lot better, I’m hopeful he’ll keep working on it (and as he continues to get stronger so will the shot).

I adore the player. He’s so likable and fun to watch.

Agreed. There's some grit to his game, which makes him especially fun too!

 

[OrrNumber4]

He unfortunately is getting discarded by some of the fanbase like in Toy Story. Hes not the shiny new toy anymore but he’s proving that he should’ve been drafted much higher

Hmm, he was already drafted 7th...

 

[Patty Ice]

I wish we could somehow draft his brother (with a second 1st round pick) only because, as they say, double the Eklund, double the fun.

An Eklund for each of our 2 boys.

 

[JoeThorntonsRooster]

He unfortunately is getting discarded by some of the fanbase like in Toy Story. Hes not the shiny new toy anymore but he’s proving that he should’ve been drafted much higher

Hmm, he was already drafted 7th...

It was a pretty bad draft class, with a decent number of solid contributors but no clear cut superstars and nobody who looks like they're going to get there.

Eklund is actually leading the draft class in scoring this season. IMO there are like 10 guys who could still end up being the best player from that draft class and he is one of them.

 

[Skeksis25]

Dude he is at a minimum of 65-70 this year barring any injury

You are responding to a year old post. Last year he finished with 45 points. Right as I was hoping.

 

[Juxtaposer]

It was a pretty bad draft class, with a decent number of solid contributors but no clear cut superstars and nobody who looks like they're going to get there.

Eklund is actually leading the draft class in scoring this season. IMO there are like 10 guys who could still end up being the best player from that draft class and he is one of them.

While it's tempting to say "there were no superstars, 2021 is a bad draft class", I think it's fascinating to recall that at the time, there was a clear-cut top-9 with almost no discernible order among them. Power and Beniers were seen as a half step above the rest, but it wouldn't have been unthinkable not to have them top-2. Three years later, and not a single one of that top-9 is a bust, and every single one of them looks like a top line winger, top-6 C, or top-3 defenseman. Beyond that, there's like, Wyatt Johnston, the two goalies (Cossa and Wallstedt), a few solid defensemen at the top of the 2nd (Zellweger and Evans), and Matthew Knies. Bad year to have 1st overall, bad year to have 10th overall, but great year to be picking 7th.

For the record, this was my ranking at the time:

1. Power
2. Beniers
3. Clarke
4. Eklund
5. Hughes
6. Guenther
7. McTavish
8. Edvinsson
9. Johnson

As you said, any of those guys plus Johnston could legitimately end up the best in the class.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

He's come a very long way.

I remember his draft year, made the roster out of training camp, had a couple immediate points off the powerplay, and then they sent him back to Sweden after nine games. He was holding back tears in the interview, red eyes, cracked voice. I'm glad he went back to Sweden where his momma could slap him back to reality. Reality and meatballs, now eat! You need to get bigger if you wanna play in the NHL.

And I'm glad he had to go through the AHL also before he could make the Sharks. Trial by Fire!!! It's made him tougher and it shows on the ice.

 

[sharski]

Imo Eklund is officially the first member of the Definitely Part of the Next Gen Core team that earned and proved it at the NHL level... Everyone else is either still in the process of proving it (yes I'm including Celebrini here) or is a baby lottery ticket

 

[Jargon]

He's come a very long way.

I remember his draft year, made the roster out of training camp, had a couple immediate points off the powerplay, and then they sent him back to Sweden after nine games. He was holding back tears in the interview, red eyes, cracked voice. I'm glad he went back to Sweden where his momma could slap him back to reality. Reality and meatballs, now eat! You need to get bigger if you wanna play in the NHL.

And I'm glad he had to go through the AHL also before he could make the Sharks. Trial by Fire!!! It's made him tougher and it shows on the ice.

I remember thinking he was good already but that at some point he wasn’t going to evade one of those big hits guys were lining him up for and break into a million pieces.

 

[hohosaregood]

Every team goes through one failed rebuild/retool but usually there's one or two guys that come out the first rebuild/retool. Eklund's that guy for us.

 

[matt trick]

Eklund uttagen i 4 nations efter höstens succé

I februari samlas världens bästa hockeyspelare i en landslagsturnering för första gången på nio år. Då kommer William Eklund ta plats i Tre Kronors lag. Enligt Expressens uppgifter blir han en av 13 forwards.

www.expressen.se

I don’t know Swedish but it looks like this says Eklund was chosen for 4 nations. Guessing Zetterlund was not picked?

If Canada doesn’t take him, I wonder if a mysterious hot shot from Stockholm, Macklund Celundbrini, will be on the team.

 

[Crewouse]

Eklund uttagen i 4 nations efter höstens succé

I februari samlas världens bästa hockeyspelare i en landslagsturnering för första gången på nio år. Då kommer William Eklund ta plats i Tre Kronors lag. Enligt Expressens uppgifter blir han en av 13 forwards.

www.expressen.se

I don’t know Swedish but it looks like this says Eklund was chosen for 4 nations. Guessing Zetterlund was not picked?

If Canada doesn’t take him, I wonder if a mysterious hot shot from Stockholm, Macklund Celundbrini, will be on the team.

The roster will be announced wednesday evening, so around noon PST

 

[The Nemesis]

Eklund uttagen i 4 nations efter höstens succé

I februari samlas världens bästa hockeyspelare i en landslagsturnering för första gången på nio år. Då kommer William Eklund ta plats i Tre Kronors lag. Enligt Expressens uppgifter blir han en av 13 forwards.

www.expressen.se

I don’t know Swedish but it looks like this says Eklund was chosen for 4 nations. Guessing Zetterlund was not picked?

If Canada doesn’t take him, I wonder if a mysterious hot shot from Stockholm, Macklund Celundbrini, will be on the team.

Eklund just has to teach him to say "yes, I am swedish" and "we give 100%. Get pucks in deep. Have active stick." in Swedish and he'll be able to handle anything the hockey media throws at him.

 

[timorous me]

For anyone who's been wondering if Eklund would be a top-line winger, I think the answer is: Yes, with Celebrini.

 

[TheWayToRefJose]

Gotta be one of the most underrated players in the league. 22 points in 26 games and just turned 22 2 months ago (that’s a lot of 2s).

+10 percent corsi and fenwick relative.

Most points of the 2021 draft so far (in this season)

Most fans probably don’t even know who he is. For now. Feels similar to Timo before he finally started getting the recognition. Which is funny because Eklund is having a much better season than Timo so far.

 

[Crewouse]

No ecky

 

[Timo Time]

I'm actually shocked they did not add him to the 4 Nations roster. Wow.

 

[sampler]

That's shocking, but whatever... its a product of playing on a marketless team out in the boondocks of hockeyville.

If he was playing in TOR, he'd have been in the first set of announced players to make the team off the bat.
.
By then, the rest might be more valuable than the games. Sharks could be in a PO race then...

Also, I have really enjoyed watching eklund's transition from a clearly unready prospect to a legit top 6 forward. He was too small, too weak on the puck, too cutesy when he came up. Like Smith in many ways, he just wasnt strong enough and wasnt ready. He could have been OK if they kept him up, but it would not have been best for him.

Now, his board play, his hockey sense, and his playmaking have reached the next level. he is shifty, can protect pucks, and make plays in tight spaces in ways he couldnt at the beginning. He could be a legit top liner in time.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

Use it!

Use this as motivation right now.

 

[209]

By then, the rest might be more valuable than the games. Sharks could be in a PO race then...

I said this in AUG to friends and I'll say it here now - Sharks will be in the playoff race and with all of their players not going to 4 Nations outside of Granny (I think); the rest will be amazing...

Are teams still allowed to practice during this down time??? Or is it like XMAS break where no team activities allowed?

 

[fasterthanlight]

hmm... I am looking into this source; I'm not 100% confident it's accurate, ill wait for the official announcement. This leak is from expressen which seems reliable, but it's also very odd to have conflicting reports.