2021 will be a good Swedish year in the draft.
The question is just how good? Two of the top players in the final ranking from NHL Central Scouting are forward William Eklund from Djurgården and defender Simon Edvinsson from Frölunda.
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And players who go high in the draft, as is well known, often appear in the National Hockey League already the following season.
– I feel that I need another year in Sweden to develop more, says William Eklund to NHL.com/sv. I have to be a better shooter, I have to shoot faster. It is also about top speed, getting up to it and being able to maintain it. There are two things I need to improve.
[Läs också: William Eklund allt hetare inför NHL-draften]
– I see many Swedish players who want to stay in Sweden for another year to develop. For me, it’s a good thing, especially now that we have a very good coach (Barry Smith) and have a good group here (in Djurgården), says William Eklund.
William Eklund has something to brag about. His father, always an equally hard-working forward Christian Eklund, played over 500 matches for Djurgården in the SHL.
Eklund, 18, scored 23 points (11 + 12) in 40 matches, of which two power-play goals and three match-winning goals for Dif. From the spot in the chain with Alexander Holtz, drafted by the New Jersey Devils, he shot 63 shots on goal and averaged an ice time of 15.29 per game. For that, he was named Rookie of the Year in the SHL season 2020-21.
But he really stepped into the hot air already the season before, with 20 games. The difference was in the production: there was no goal and only two assists the first season in Djurgården’s A-team. The difference also lay in what he learned.
– The first year I mostly looked at players like (Jacob) Josefson and how professional he was on and off the ice. I wanted to know why they were so good. It was important to me who came from junior hockey. I learned from them, while fighting for a place on the team. Last season I continued to learn from them, but also tried to be better than them and show that I deserved a place.
The 2020-21 season was both successful and unsuccessful for William Eklund. He was successful in the SHL, he got to try out for games with Tre Kronor. He received the NHL’s prestigious scouting award EJ McGuire Award and he experienced a quick climb in the draft ranking. But he was also forced into an emergency appendix operation that kept him off the ice before a positive test for covid-19 cost him a place on the JVM team. Another injury cost a place in the World Cup team.
– It was tough, but also something to fight through. I had to work mentally with it.
Otherwise, Eklund would have been cast in the JVM team and had a great chance to take a place in Tre Kronor’s WC team. Juniorkronorna’s national team captain Tomas Montén has high thoughts about Eklund:
– I think Eklund has been better this year than Lucas Raymond (the Frölunda player who was tinged as four by the Detroit Red Wings in the NHL draft 2020) and Alexander Holtz (the ranger who went to the New Jersey Devils, selected as the seventh player in the draft 2020) last year, says Tomas Montén to NHL.com/sv. William is a good skater, he can move the puck and he knows how to play it. His shot is okay, and he can play both as a center or as an outside forward. He is strong with the puck, good in the fights at the rim and he can transport the puck.
[Läs också: William Eklund får McGuire Award of Excellence]
Now William Eklund hopes that the draft goes as intended. Maybe he ends up with the New Jersey Devils where his friend Alexander Holtz will play? The Devils choose as the fourth team.
– Of course, he is a very good friend, we have played together for a long time. Of course it would have been cool to play with him, it’s something of a dream. But I do not know… it will probably be cool with any team, says William Eklund.
However, the favorite player is in the New York Islanders: Mathew Barzal. The Icelander striker is 1.83 tall and weighs 85 kilos, compared to William Eklund who is 1.78 and weighs 78 kilos. By NHL standards, not exactly measured by any giants.
– I like to see him play; he is amazing. How he manages the game in the corners, his nice twists and how good he is at finding his teammates. I know I will not be the team’s greatest player, but the game has changed so much in recent years that even small and skilled players can be very effective in NHL hockey. Barzal is a bit of a role model for players like me. It’s fun to see that a little less players can make such a success in the NHL.
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