Hell No. No way is Ekblad better than jones.
We are not in contention for number 1 anyway. Buffalo is going to be running away with this thing especially by the end of the year once they dump Vanek and Miller.
In my mind Ekblad and Jones are pretty damn close, either could be given the edge depending at that stage (draft) in their career depending on how Ekblad does this season. Jones is obviously the better play at this moment, and was last year, and is ofc more of a 'sure thing' as he has shown he can play to a high level in the NHL.
But there is also 17 months between them in age. When they were both 15 Ekblad was scoring at a higher pace in the OHL than Jones was in Texas Midget. (but while that is a nice stat... it means nothing really!)
I really cannot wait to see how Ekblad does over a whole year this year, just to get a better comparison.
It is hard to compare the two directly due to Jones only playing 1 year of junior, but in last years playoffs both were beastly to an equal level.
Also I personally believe from the limited viewing of both in junior that Ekblad is better defensively but Jones will put up more points. If Ekblad hits 55 points in 68 games this year (after 43 last year factored) that could be an indicator he has that extra offensive ability though... but probably not as good as Jones in that regard even if he does.
You can compare Nurse and Ekblad though... and last year Ekblad was already better than a guy who went 7th overall in this years draft, but obviously that is neither here nor there.
I doubt we are near #1 anyway though... so it is a moot point really!