EDMONTON and NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mattias Ekholm hasn’t had much of a chance to think about Nashville in the last seven and a half months. It’s hard to blame him for that.
Ekholm was told he’d be traded to the Edmonton Oilers from the Predators — his first and only NHL team — at roughly 4:30 p.m. Central time on Feb. 28, which happened to be a game day. He then packed up his essentials, quickly said his so-longs to his now ex-teammates after the game, and left the Music City bright and early the next morning en route to Edmonton, where he played for the Oilers the following night.
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“Everything was going well here (with the Oilers),” Ekholm told The Athletic. “I’m not saying you have to grieve or anything, but — this is a really bad example — it’s like when you break up with somebody. It takes a bit of time.
“Now, you’re into something new right away. You have that success. You’re so focused on what we were doing here.”
There also was a move into a new house in Edmonton and a playoff run, albeit a shorter one than expected. The summer was busy, too, most notably with the birth of his third child, Leon, on July 19.
That’s part of the reason touching down in Nashville on Monday evening in advance of Tuesday’s game will be so special for him.
“The more I think about it, I’m sure it’s going to be emotional,” Ekholm said. “I’m sure it’s going to be very weird and strange. But I’m happy it’s happening early in the year just to get some closure on it.”
Ekholm is thankful the hip/groin injury that kept him out for the preseason and season opener has healed quickly enough for him to play against his old team for the first time since the massive deal. The Oilers acquired Ekholm when they shipped out popular teammate Tyson Barrie, 2022 first-round pick Reid Schaefer and their first selection in the 2023 draft.
Seeing some former teammates will be meaningful, Ekholm said, but he’s mostly looking forward to taking everything in. He’s also hoping he can visit with some friends like Tim Sprauge and Angeline Brunetto, who live on a farm about an hour outside of Nashville and own cows and horses. They were so kind and welcoming to his two children at the time, William and Maya.
Though he’d kept in touch with Sprauge and Brunetto, as he has with others in the area, it’s those people with whom he’s hoping to reconnect face to face.
“When you have kids, you learn to appreciate people outside of hockey who can help you,” Ekholm said.
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“It’s so quick when you get traded. There’s no saying goodbye to the people you want to say goodbye to.”
Ekholm constantly heard his name in trade rumours in recent years, something he attributed to his team-friendly $3.75 million AAV contract and the Predators usually being on the playoff bubble. Then he signed his four-year extension that came with a $6.25 million cap hit in October 2021.
But as the Predators sagged heading into the trade deadline, Ekholm wondered if this really could be it in Nashville. The time doesn’t come until it comes, though.
“When that happens for so long and you never get traded, you just feel that it’s inevitably that you’re never going to be traded. You’re going to stay, and that’s fine,” he said. “Then it happened. We had two guys get traded that week, so I knew something could happen. If something were to happen, that was probably the time to do it.
“Surprised was probably not the right word. Was I expecting it? No. But that’s the business side of it, right?”
The trade came together over a few days. Just like that, Ekholm’s 11 years in Tennessee were over.
“He’s almost a legacy player in the franchise. He came into the franchise when we were starting to rise,” Predators GM and former head coach Barry Trotz said.
“With Mattias, he’s been a standard of what Nashville defence is. He was a big part of the team and the dressing room for a long time. That was a tough one. I teared up when he was traded to Edmonton. I was part of that one. I felt that, from an organizational standpoint, when we were ready to pop … I’m not sure if he would be in that window.
“We wanted to give him an opportunity to play on a team that’s one of the favourites to win a Cup in the next couple of years.”
Trotz added that Ekholm has a job with the Predators waiting for him in some capacity as long as he’s still with the team.
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Ekholm was a cornerstone piece of those Predators teams that prided themselves on staunch defensive play. They had Pekka Rinne and later Juuse Saros in goal. The blue line was a collection of stars that included Ekholm’s mentor Shea Weber, Ryan Ellis, Seth Jones, Roman Josi and eventually P.K. Subban.
Josi and Ekholm had been teammates since attending development camp together.
“When he was here, he was always a bit underrated. He’s one of the best defencemen there is,” Josi said. “He’s so good with his stick. He’s good with his gaps. He’s solid when it comes to the offensive game, too.”
The Predators are preparing an in-game tribute video for Ekholm and Josi said he’ll probably shed a tear when it’s shown.
The big, bearded Swede was a key part of a group that reached Game 6 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final before losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He’s trying to instill some of the lessons from the loss to his Oilers teammates to help them go one step further.
“The way we came together to be part of that core on the back end, we showed we were not just good in the regular season,” Ekholm said. “To see that and to know that I’ve been that close, and I can really do it, it’s a big realization when you’re 27 years old.
“That was the biggest thing to take away from that.”
Ekholm said he took to heart an organizational mantra of leaving things in a better spot than before you arrived. He truly feels the Predators organization is in a better place.
He’s already taken a similar approach in Edmonton.
Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said last season that Ekholm fit the Oilers like a glove. The Oilers went 18-2-1 in the 21 regular-season games after he was acquired. Sure, a weaker schedule helped, but Ekholm was exactly what they needed.
Ekholm supplanted Brett Kulak and studied the top four on defence. He proved to be the perfect partner for Evan Bouchard, who exploded also with the benefit of top power-play time. His off-ice impact was invaluable in the Oilers dressing room as he’s taken pride in mentoring younger blueliners. His on-ice impact was remarkable as evidenced by the Oilers’ 31-10 goal differential at five-on-five with him on the ice in those 21 games, per Natural Stat Trick.
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Naturally, his absence was glaring in an 8-1 trouncing at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks in the season opener last week.
He also fit in Edmonton perfectly. Many spouses may not be thrilled to hear their NHL-playing partner has been dealt to the Alberta capital. Ekholm’s wife Ida, who is from northern Sweden, was overjoyed. They felt it was the perfect place to continue raising their children.
“We love it. As much as we loved our time in Nashville, we’re happy with where we’re at,” Ekholm said. “We couldn’t have picked a better spot for us to land in Edmonton. There’s a family life that you can live here. It’s an easy life when you have kids. We have winter activities like hockey and skiing. It’s hard to do that in Tennessee sometimes.”
But Nashville will always hold a special place in Ekholm’s heart. It’s where his first two kids were born. It’s where he broke into the NHL, grew as a player and became a foundational piece on some very good teams.
“I’d say all the on-ice success is kind of secondary. I felt like I always belonged there, like I was part of something,” Ekholm said. “Even now, I watch a little bit of their games. You get a warm feeling when you watch it. It’s a very familiar atmosphere.
“You felt taken care of when you were there. That’s the most important thing for somebody. To have success on the ice, you have to feel comfortable off the ice. They do a really, really good job of that.”
The city and organization helped Ekholm become who he is today — much to the Oilers’ and their fans’ delight.
“I’ve never gotten traded before, so I had no idea what to expect,” he said. “It’s going to be a nice thing to close that chapter in my life. I spent a lot of time there. I got there as a 19-year-old kid. I went away having almost three kids. It’s been a big part of our lives.”
(Photo: Stephen R. Sylvanie / USA Today)
