William Eklund

[one2gamble]

Lmao imagine taking Arvidsson, Nyquist, and Carlsson over Eklund.

cant stay up tp watch west coast games....

wait.........

 

[TheBigDrunkPanda]

Don't put words in my mouth, please. I am not "arguing that having a second player just like william eklund is a bad thing."

I am arguing that if we have a 5-10th pick, I would prefer us to pick a different player profile that also has similarly high upside but of a different type.

The most pressing need we have is in our defensive pipeline, where we only really have one player who has a chance at top pairing D. I vastly prefer a defenseman with top pairing upside to a clone of Eklund.

Picking similar prospect profiles over and over again is what got us a terrible pipeline in 2022. I would prefer to avoid that.

A R/H defenseman is critical this draft but this draft seems pretty forward heavy so it might a BPA situation

 

[Hodge]

that's not wrong. But if this is the sort of dumb decision making one can expect from their team selection, who's to say they don't repeat it when the Olympics come around?

Because Eklund will have proved he is worthy of selection over a full season-plus as opposed to 20 or so games while guys like Arvidsson and Nyquist are only going to get worse over that same time period. It's not like the Swedish national team is unfamiliar with Eklund's game.

 

[fasterthanlight]

Damn, I guess they really did leave him off. It seems like a stupid decision, but, we'll see how they do I guess.

 

[BaileyMacTavish]

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.

Honestly. I think he is. He's already on a 69 point pace. His 2 way game is immaculate too. 70-80 points might be doable for him in the future

 

[timorous me]

Still time for him to make it as an injury replacement, I suppose, but this is kind of a silly little event in the first place (you can't have a tournament with only four teams!), and I have a feeling Eklund has the mentality to be driven by this snub.

 

[Juxtaposer]

The only real positive is that Eklund will get some rest and healing. Guy plays a physical style.

 

[Sandisfan]

Maybe someone with a better memory than I have can Start a thread including historical omissions of Sharks on these special occasion Teams. Seems it could make a good reference for those thinking being a Shark player/draftee to show whether there is an actual bias towards our favorite players.

 

[hohosaregood]

Eklund gonna get snubbed at the olympics for having no national team experience as an adult

 

[sampler]

Don't put words in my mouth, please. I am not "arguing that having a second player just like william eklund is a bad thing."

I am arguing that if we have a 5-10th pick, I would prefer us to pick a different player profile that also has similarly high upside but of a different type.

The most pressing need we have is in our defensive pipeline, where we only really have one player who has a chance at top pairing D. I vastly prefer a defenseman with top pairing upside to a clone of Eklund.

Picking similar prospect profiles over and over again is what got us a terrible pipeline in 2022. I would prefer to avoid that.

I apologize, as I see how my initial line came off. I didnt mean it to say that getting another Ek is bad, you are just arguing that there are better fits with that pick. I totally get you...

I wonder why you think Dick is the only guy we have with top pairing potential? You dont think much of cagnoni? I get that hes small, but have you watched him play? His hands, skating, and hockey mind are remarkable. Hes second in the AHL in scoring at 19 years old?! Yes, he has some defensive aspects to work on and he is small, but he can work on the defensive details, and there are lots of smaller superstar D out there. He actually kinda reminds me of Quinn Hughes (5'10", 180 lbs) in his skating, his hands, his quickness and craftiness. But spurgeon, Krug, and several others are definitely legit top 4 dmen at 5'10" or less.

Also, I am not sold that Pohlcamp wont be a top 4 dman too. He an Buium are going head to head in denver with very similar numbers, and buium is definitely supposed to be a top pairing guy.

I think our D pipeline is not as thin as you say. The forwards, to me, outside of the ones currently in the NHL are far more questionable. Graf looks close. Bystedt eventually, maybe. Cherny hasnt played a game yet. Musty had all the drama and then an injury and definitely wasnt ready in camp last year despite all the big OHL numbers. Lots of potential there, but nothing surefire.

Either way, BPA is likely the way to go. Call me sentimental, but the idea of the eklunds winning the cup together fills my heart

 

[tahoesharksfan]

I love watching Eklund play. Lots of talent, very physical and committed all the time.
Hopefully we get to see him in teal for most (if not all) of his career!

 

[CaptainShark]

We all know how Eklund struggled with the Sharks decision to send him back to Sweden after his first NHL taste and look how that turned out… it won’t break him, it will eventually just motivate him even more and by the time the Olympics come around, he will force whoever’s hands.

 

[CanadienShark]

One of the best Swedish-Italian sandwiches in the league.

We can call them: "Spaghetti and Meatballs."

 

[Patty Ice]

William and Viktor are 4 years apart and will have never played on the same team. The Sedins are literally the same age and have been together their entire lives. Invoking their name as a comparison or aspiration doesn't really track because the situation isn't nearly similar enough beyond "are related"

 

[Albatros]

Eklund gonna get snubbed at the olympics for having no national team experience as an adult

Unless the Sharks have their own Cinderella run he'll have the opportunity to go to Stockholm in May and show that he's not "injured" again.

 

[jMoneyBrah]

Our first line in 2026 will be Eklund-Celebrini-Eklund

We really need Cam Lund to come through, if only for the lulz:

Eklund - Lund - Eklund

Re-sign Granlund and run a top line of:

Granlund - Celundbrini - Zetterlund

 

[EK47]

I can’t f***ing believe they picked senior citizen Nyquist with zero defense and grit scoring at a thirty point pace over Eklund. Disgraceful.

 

[coooldude]

I wonder why you think Dick is the only guy we have with top pairing potential? You dont think much of cagnoni? I get that hes small, but have you watched him play? His hands, skating, and hockey mind are remarkable. Hes second in the AHL in scoring at 19 years old?! Yes, he has some defensive aspects to work on and he is small, but he can work on the defensive details, and there are lots of smaller superstar D out there. He actually kinda reminds me of Quinn Hughes (5'10", 180 lbs) in his skating, his hands, his quickness and craftiness. But spurgeon, Krug, and several others are definitely legit top 4 dmen at 5'10" or less.

Also, I am not sold that Pohlcamp wont be a top 4 dman too. He an Buium are going head to head in denver with very similar numbers, and buium is definitely supposed to be a top pairing guy.

I think our D pipeline is not as thin as you say.

Top pairing is an insane bar for any prospect to hit. I don't think Pohlkamp or Cagnoni have higher than a 2-4% (who knows, but tiny) chance to turn into Boyle or Quinn-types, which is what a top pairing D would have to be. Yes, they're awesome prospects (I actually voted Pohlkamp as higher than Cagnoni pre-season, but Luca's year has been awesome). And I could see Cagnoni being an excellent 2LD. But he's exactly (and Pohlkamp) the type of guy(s) who if they ARE on the top pairing, need an excellent 2 way D partner in order to get the most out of them.

A Cagnoni-Pohlkamp top pair would be a disaster even if they hit their ceiling. Dickinson-Pohlkamp at their ceilings? Maybe, but both Cagnoni and Pohlkamp are profiles that are not particularly likely to hit the ceilings that you, I believe, are over-optimistically expecting.

It's more likely that Cagnoni's great outcome is a Sam Girard, which is a great secondary piece when playing well and with a strong partner, and a huge liability when struggling. Pohlkamp may profile similarly. So no, I do not think our D pipeline is very strong yet, and I also don't think that Dickinson's median outcome is top pair. I think his ceiling is top pair and his median outcome is 3D right now, even with his high points this year.

Since this is an Eklund thread, I will add: having both Cagnoni and Pohlkamp as our #3 and #4 D prospects is a bit similar to having both Eklunds in the system. If they both hit, hooray, but you actually have yourself a bit of a lineup challenge. less likely they're both pieces on a contender and more likely one of them gets moved in a package.

 

[OrrNumber4]

Part of the problem is that "sure-fire" #1 D-men, much less elite ones, are very rare. There's always that element of risk and trusting the scouting staff.

Come to think of it, even the "sure-fire" guys drafted #1 are often failures. Hamrlik, Jovanovski, Berard, Johnson...Denis Potvin is that only hit that comes to mind; maybe Dahlin...

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

convert Eklund to a #1 dman then?

 

[TheBigDrunkPanda]

Part of the problem is that "sure-fire" #1 D-men, much less elite ones, are very rare. There's always that element of risk and trusting the scouting staff.

Come to think of it, even the "sure-fire" guys drafted #1 are often failures. Hamrlik, Jovanovski, Berard, Johnson...Denis Potvin is that only hit that comes to mind; maybe Dahlin...

To be fair Berard had one eye removed during a game, up until that point he was a stud

As much as i complain about some of Griers choices, whoever made the call to leave Eklund off that Swede team should be fired. That roster looks pretty sus

 

[OrrNumber4]

To be fair Berard had one eye removed during a game, up until that point he was a stud

He was a solid defenseman, but not a #1...

 

[SjMilhouse]

I can’t f***ing believe they picked senior citizen Nyquist with zero defense and grit scoring at a thirty point pace over Eklund. Disgraceful.

I thought he was out of the league to be honest. Weird choice

 

[EK47]

I thought he was out of the league to be honest. Weird choice

Atleast it’s not Mattias Weinhandl. You probably wont get that reference. But check out swedens lines for the first game of the 2010 olympics BÅG simply went with: Wow I loved their chemistry 12 years ago!

 

[OrrNumber4]

Lmao imagine taking Arvidsson, Nyquist, and Carlsson over Eklund.

Sarcasm?

Personally, I'd have taken Zetterlund over Arvidsson due to style of play and anticipated decline, but Arvidsson is a proven 60-point scorer. Nyquist had, what, 80 points for Nashville last season?

There's an argument for Eklund over Carlson, but the latter is almost certainly the future face of Swedish hockey, while Eklund will likely be the neck. I understand getting Carlson in for a quaternary role over Eklund.