(Editor’s note: The Sharks are assigning rookie William Eklund to Swedish club Djurgarden.)
When it comes to Sharks rookie William Eklund, there is little doubt among those that have watched him play that he has a tremendously promising NHL future. The seventh overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft has already exceeded expectations by remaining with the Sharks for the first three weeks of the season, after he got progressively better throughout training camp and made it impossible for the organization to send him back to his club in Sweden — which was the original plan, according to a league source.
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Whether the 19-year old should play a 10th game, though, thereby burning off the first year of his three-year entry-level deal, is up for debate. If he suits up for the Sharks’ game against New Jersey at home Saturday, he’ll be in line to become a restricted free agent in the 2024 offseason. Assuming he’ll have earned a sizable raise by that point, and on a team that has some concerns with some of its other long-term contracts on the books, that makes it an even more complicated decision. Evander Kane’s $7 million AAV contract, for example, doesn’t expire until the 2025 offseason.
Sharks assistant coach John MacLean has clearly taken a liking to Eklund. MacLean, still filling in for Bob Boughner who remains out due to COVID-19 protocols, wouldn’t comment on whether Eklund will still be with the team this weekend, but expressed his excitement Thursday morning at what the organization has in the young forward.
“He makes some high-end plays. He’s a talented, talented young man. He is going to have a long career in the NHL,” MacLean said. “He has things we can’t teach, but there are things that he needs to learn.”
Eklund’s numbers through nine games are … pretty meh. He has four points, all assists, and three of those have come on the power play. He’s managed just eight shots on goal, despite skating exclusively in the top six, other than a game in Boston on Oct. 24 in which he was a healthy scratch.
At the same time, as MacLean alluded to and as Boughner and others have indicated with regularity, Eklund flashes the kind of skill and playmaking ability from time to time that is in short supply among the Sharks’ forwards. If he keeps getting better over the next few weeks and months, he could make a greater impact than he’s had so far. The 6-4-0 Sharks might actually need him if they want to remain in the playoff hunt.
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ESPN analyst Brian Boucher caught Eklund on Tuesday night in the Sharks’ 5-3 win over the Sabres.
“I thought he looked good,” Boucher said. “I noticed (Jonathan) Dahlen a bit more, but you can see that he has good offensive instincts, and he looked comfortable to me.”
But Eklund is also small. Off the ice he still looks like a kid, which, well, he is. Can a 5-foot-10, 175-pounder (according to the official numbers, which might be a bit generous) with such limited NHL experience really endure a full, 82-game season?
ESPN’s Cassie Campbell-Pascall saw Eklund while calling the Sharks-Jets game Oct. 30.
“A little light, as to be expected from a slight 19-year old,” she said. “He’s found room on the power play, and that’s what may keep him there. … Can his body type get through an entire season? What is best for him long-term? His skill-set five-on-five may be my concern, but he can help a power play.”
Dave Poulin, an analyst for TSN who has seen Eklund twice now in the Sharks’ two games against the Canadiens, said: “I really liked him. Smart. Moves very well and isn’t afraid to shoot. He doesn’t defer, which is notable for a 19-year old.
Poulin continued: “Development is such a hard question. I always want a player to really understand (what it’s like to be) the big fish. By playing so young in the (Swedish League), he really didn’t get that. That could be the one missing piece where he could use more development time. He’s clearly made the decision hard for them.”
Finally, here’s Sharks analyst Bret Hedican, who has seen plenty of Eklund as part of the home broadcast team.
“If you’re ever shaken the hand of a bricklayer before, it’s big fingers and a big hand, and it’s been beaten up. Bricks have hit that hand and those fingers. Over time, that hand becomes bigger, and it’s grizzled. When I look at William Eklund, there just haven’t been enough bricks hitting his body to build the brain that it’s going to take to play 82 games.
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“Now, I see an extremely fun, exciting player that’s going to be really a great San Jose Shark for years to come. I guess the question is, what can you do to set him up for long-term success within the organization, within this team, without setting him back knowing that you might crush his spirit in game 50 of this year, and he can’t get up and down the ice because that bricklayer has laid the bricks down on top of you and you haven’t been able to handle it?”
Hedican, though, is encouraged by Eklund’s attitude.
“He wants to stay, from what you hear. He wants to be a part of the NHL, and he thinks he can do it. I love that about him; I think I’d want to keep him because of that.”
To be clear, the Sharks don’t have to keep Eklund on their NHL roster for the entire season even if he does play a 10th game. They’ll have the option to send him to the AHL to play games with the Barracuda. At this point, if it’s decided that he needs more seasoning, that might be the likelier option. Eklund’s Swedish League team, Djurgården, is currently off to a terrible start, and recently changed its head coach. It sits in 13th place out of 14 teams, while their leading scorer is former Sharks disappointment Marcus Sorensen. Further, if the Sharks envision Eklund making a more regular impact at the NHL level sooner than later, they’ll likely prefer he remains on the smaller North American ice surface.
Eklund would also still be eligible for the World Junior Championships, expected to be played in a bubble in Edmonton and Red Deer, per The Athletic prospect writer Corey Pronman. The Sharks could lose Eklund for about a month if they choose that path, as players would have to check in by Dec. 15. Other young players that have left their NHL team to compete in the World Juniors in recent years include Jake Virtanen, Victor Mete, Barrett Hayton and Henri Jokiharju.
Sharks captain Logan Couture has played on a line with Eklund for the past two games, as the team’s roster remains decimated due to so many players still being in COVID-19 protocol, including forwards Timo Meier and Kevin Labanc.
If it was up to Couture, it would probably be a pretty good bet that Eklund is going to stick around.
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“Very good player. Gonna be an elite player in this league,” Couture said after the Sharks’ 5-3 loss to the Blues on Thursday. “It’s tough to play in this league at 18, 19 (years old), and he’s shown that he can do it. Very impressive. It isn’t easy what he’s doing. He’s playing top-six minutes, playing against the other team’s top two lines every night. So, nothing but credit to him. He’s showed up and proven that he can play in the NHL.”
(Photo of William Eklund battling Brandon Saad for the puck: Neville E. Guard / USA Today)
