C/LW William Eklund - San Jose Sharks, NHL (2021, 7th, SJS)

[Osakahaus]

It won’t be a popular comparison, but pre injury Robby Fabbri. Most forget how good Fabbri was before tearing his ACL.

It feels surreal remembering that he had a good rookie campaign in 2015-16 and fell off since. what a bummer.

 

[Ulysses31]

Fabbri looked good this year for the wings

 

[bsu]

I hope the Ducks take him. I think he will be the best player in the draft. Don't f*** it up Murray.

 

[Osakahaus]

I hope the Ducks take him. I think he will be the best player in the draft. Don't f*** it up Murray.

Ducks probably will take Guenther since the kraken shouldnt be that dumb and pass up on his talent

 

[405Entrance]

Ducks probably will take Guenther since the kraken shouldnt be that dumb and pass up on his talent

Ducks would take bernier if that’s the case

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

Ducks would take bernier if that’s the case

We'll trade you Bernier for the 3rd overall pick if you want him so badly.

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

My dude, I generally respect your takes but on certain players in this draft you are way off. Eklund is one of them.

Eklund's puck protection abilities are probably top notch in this draft. Looking back at 2002 to 2004 Zetterberg and you'll see that he and Eklund are eerily similar as players. Good but not great skaters. Exceptional stickhandlers but not flashy. Great and very underrated shots. Incredible sense of where his teammates are on the ice at all times and the passing ability to somehow get his passes right through traffic. Hustles hard and puts in the effort on defense.

I'm not expecting 80 and 90 point Zetterberg out of the kid but I sincerely think he's the best overall and highest potential forward in this draft. I'd expect him to start out in similar fashion to Z with some 40 and 50 point seasons and tease of much more to come before he really gets it. Eklund has the kind of hockey sense that you just can't teach. I'm speaking blasphemy to my fellow Red Wings fans, but Eklund is a better prospect in his draft year than Lucas Raymond was in his draft year.

Honestly I agree with a lot of what you said here (especially the first part- I will definitely be way off on several players in this draft).

I think our disagreement here is mainly one of degree. I have Eklund as a top 10 prospect this draft, I enjoy watching him a lot. You yourself even agree that you're not expecting him to hit the career highs that Zetterberg, which is essentially the point of my comment above. I'm not really criticizing Eklund so much as showing pause to that comparison. I could say the same about most top prospects. Let's take the top 3 picks of the last three drafts for example (Dahlin, Svechnikov, Kotkaniemi, Hughes, Kakko, Dach, Lafreniere, Byfield, Stutzle). It's very early, but I don't think there's a player in there I'd confidently project to be as impactful as prime Zetterberg right now.

I think Eklund is a pretty low-risk prospect (or high floor, if you like that terminology). If I thought there was a pretty significant chance of a Zetterberg upside, he'd be my no-brainer #1 pick. I think his upside is a bit more muted than that, which is why I have him in the #4-10 range. I don't think our evaluations of this player are all that far apart.

Edit: I missed the last part about Raymond. I don't see that as blasphemy at all, I think they're in a similar bucket as prospects. I prefer Raymond's upside to Eklund's but I get why people would prefer Eklund as well.

 

[Osakahaus]

Ducks would take bernier if that’s the case

Correct but guenther provides much needed offense on a ducks team thats anemic on scoring.

 

[Team Cozens]

Buffalo are fools if they dont take him. sorry. get him over power. you absolutely do not need another defenseman

Sabres gladly take Power. Seattle can have Eklund.

 

[HisNoodliness]

Honestly I agree with a lot of what you said here (especially the first part- I will definitely be way off on several players in this draft).

I think our disagreement here is mainly one of degree. I have Eklund as a top 10 prospect this draft, I enjoy watching him a lot. You yourself even agree that you're not expecting him to hit the career highs that Zetterberg, which is essentially the point of my comment above. I'm not really criticizing Eklund so much as showing pause to that comparison. I could say the same about most top prospects. Let's take the top 3 picks of the last three drafts for example (Dahlin, Svechnikov, Kotkaniemi, Hughes, Kakko, Dach, Lafreniere, Byfield, Stutzle). It's very early, but I don't think there's a player in there I'd confidently project to be as impactful as prime Zetterberg right now.

I think Eklund is a pretty low-risk prospect (or high floor, if you like that terminology). If I thought there was a pretty significant chance of a Zetterberg upside, he'd be my no-brainer #1 pick. I think his upside is a bit more muted than that, which is why I have him in the #4-10 range. I don't think our evaluations of this player are all that far apart.

Edit: I missed the last part about Raymond. I don't see that as blasphemy at all, I think they're in a similar bucket as prospects. I prefer Raymond's upside to Eklund's but I get why people would prefer Eklund as well.

I don't think you can project anyone in this draft to be as impactful as prime Zetterberg. It's a stylistic comparison. Eklund's game is built on very similar fundamentals to Zetterberg. He relies on a lot of the same skills and uses them in similar ways. You could pretty much never compare any prospect to Zetterberg if they had to project to be that good. We compare Beniers to Bergeron, but he doesn't project to be that good. We compare Power to Hedman, but he doesn't project to be that good. We compare all of these draft eligibles that project as low end first liners to all stars because everyone is familiar with how the all stars played and we see similarities in their playstyle. I think Eklund plays a lot like Zetterberg but if anyone thought he'd be that good, Eklund would be seen as a high end 1st OA pick, not someone that probably goes somewhere 3-10 in a draft without an elite prospect.

 

[Osakahaus]

Sabres gladly take Power. Seattle can have Eklund.

The issue w/power is that he'll fall into the same holes already seen w/dahlin. i dont know if the sabres make power the defenseman he's supposed to be. give me more skill in that lineup with eklund

 

[Team Cozens]

The issue w/power is that he'll fall into the same holes already seen w/dahlin. i dont know if the sabres make power the defenseman he's supposed to be. give me more skill in that lineup with eklund

I don’t think Seattle will make Eklund the forward he’s supposed to be.

 

[Osakahaus]

I don’t think Seattle will make Eklund the forward he’s supposed to be.

I trust a new franchise a wee bit more than one who hasn't sniffed the playoffs in a decade, sorry. you got a lot to prove next year. Buffalo needs to stop letting people down and then people can trust them again.

 

[Team Cozens]

I trust a new franchise a wee bit more than one who hasn't sniffed the playoffs in a decade, sorry. you got a lot to prove next year. Buffalo needs to stop letting people down and then people can trust them again.

Stop trolling.

 

[Osakahaus]

Stop trolling.

how is this trolling? Serious question. I want to see buffalo do well. If you take eklund i think they could have a better future. Just my take.

 

[tomd]

Scouting services and chat boards may compare Eklund to the next Zetterberg but I suspect that NHL scouts are a bit more circumspect about his real projection at the NHL level. I suspect the Fabbri comparison will be far closer to reality than Zetterberg. At that point, teams have to weigh how much they want a Fabbri-type player compared to some of the other top 10 prospects out there. I can see him falling out of the top 4-5 pretty easily depending on team preferences.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Scouting services and chat boards may compare Eklund to the next Zetterberg but I suspect that NHL scouts are a bit more circumspect about his real projection at the NHL level. I suspect the Fabbri comparison will be far closer to reality than Zetterberg. At that point, teams have to weigh how much they want a Fabbri-type player compared to some of the other top 10 prospects out there. I can see him falling out of the top 4-5 pretty easily depending on team preferences.

If anything that Fabbri comparison is garbage. I say this as a Wings fan and someone who likes Fabbri.

Fabbri was drafted as more of a goalscorer than as a playmaker, he's easily knocked off the puck, and is very much a north-south player and was rated one of the best skaters of his draft. He's the kind of player now that he was projected to be during his draft year, which was a 40-50 point secondary scoring guy.

2014 NHL Draft Profile: Robby Fabbri

Nothing alike as prospects other than being the same height.

 

[tomd]

If anything that Fabbri comparison is garbage. I say this as a Wings fan and someone who likes Fabbri.

Fabbri was drafted as more of a goalscorer than as a playmaker, he's easily knocked off the puck, and is very much a north-south player and was rated one of the best skaters of his draft. He's the kind of player now that he was projected to be during his draft year, which was a 40-50 point secondary scoring guy.

2014 NHL Draft Profile: Robby Fabbri

Nothing alike as prospects other than being the same height.

No problem if you don't like the Fabbri comparison. Pick the best comparison you have amongst the population of 5'10" players in the NHL and go from there.

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

I don't think you can project anyone in this draft to be as impactful as prime Zetterberg. It's a stylistic comparison. Eklund's game is built on very similar fundamentals to Zetterberg. He relies on a lot of the same skills and uses them in similar ways. You could pretty much never compare any prospect to Zetterberg if they had to project to be that good. We compare Beniers to Bergeron, but he doesn't project to be that good. We compare Power to Hedman, but he doesn't project to be that good. We compare all of these draft eligibles that project as low end first liners to all stars because everyone is familiar with how the all stars played and we see similarities in their playstyle. I think Eklund plays a lot like Zetterberg but if anyone thought he'd be that good, Eklund would be seen as a high end 1st OA pick, not someone that probably goes somewhere 3-10 in a draft without an elite prospect.

Well that's fair but the comment I replied to literally said "the next Zetterberg" which struck me as more of a projection than a stylistic comparison. I essentially said that Zetterberg is a lofty projection, and I think folks underestimate how elite his puck protection was at the NHL level. I didn't think of my initial comment as especially controversial.

Moving to your broader point, that's why I try to avoid comparing Beniers to Bergeron, Power to Hedman, etc. I think it's unfair to prospects to identify their strengths then immediately compare them to the most elite NHL player imaginable who shares those same strengths. I think that type of discussion leads to overvaluing of prospects and often leaves fans disappointed.

Anyways I'll probably leave this point here to avoid straying the conversation away from Eklund.

 

[bsu]

Fabbri comparison is dog shit lol

 

[Fatass]

how is this trolling? Serious question. I want to see buffalo do well. If you take eklund i think they could have a better future. Just my take.

You believe Eklund has a higher upside than Power or Beniers?

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Fabbri comparison is dog shit lol

That one was started by Pavel Buchnevich. Blame him for that one.

 

[Osakahaus]

You believe Eklund has a higher upside than Power or Beniers?

Yeah, i do. Beniers is a good centerman but i dont see a generational dude, and power is good but nowhere near the cream of the crop for defensemen. Eklund feels like a gamechanger to me. If the sabres do not trade eichel then they can absolutely make a great duo with him and eichel

 

[405Entrance]

Correct but guenther provides much needed offense on a ducks team thats anemic on scoring.

He’s a passenger. we need guys who can score and be a playmaker

 

[Osakahaus]

He’s a passenger. we need guys who can score and be a playmaker

zegras isnt a playmaker?