SAN JOSE – It’s almost vital for the San Jose Sharks that William Eklund fulfills his immense promise and develops into a full-time top-six forward at the NHL level.
His two minor penalties Tuesday notwithstanding, Eklund, in his first full season with the Sharks, is showing he’s capable of playing that type of role.
Eklund’s power-play goal at the 15:09 mark of the third period proved to be his fourth game-winner of the season as the Sharks earned a 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets at SAP Center, maintaining the momentum they built up during their recently completed six-game road trip.
On his goal, Eklund stood near the faceoff dot to the left of the Sharks’ net, took a pass from Mikael Granlund, and fired a one-timer past Jets goalie Laurent Brossoit for his seventh goal of the season.
Eklund now has three goals and three assists in his last six games, as he joined Jeff Friesen, Patrick Marleau, and Logan Couture as the only Sharks players to have four game-winning goals within a season’s first 29 games at the age of 21.
“I think it was a good game for me,” Eklund said. “Those two penalties were stupid by me. It’s something I’ve got to learn to (avoid). Overall, I think our line did a good job and had a couple of good chances, and probably should have had even more.”
Knowing how important he was to the future of the team, the Sharks (9-17-3) took their time developing Eklund after they selected him seventh overall in 2021.
With the team preaching patience, Eklund spent the 2021-2022 season playing with Djurgardens of the Swedish Hockey League before he played nearly all of last season with the Barracuda.
A torn labrum in his shoulder in March threatened to stall Eklund’s development, but he was fully healthy for the start of camp and made the Sharks roster after a stellar preseason.
Eklund took some time to get going, as did just about everyone else on the roster, but is now third on the Sharks in scoring (14 points) and also third among the team’s forwards in average time on ice (18:16).
The Sharks’ previous regime was no doubt thrilled to draft Eklund when they did, and the current front office sees him as an integral part of the future, one that includes forwards Fabian Zetterlund, Will Smith, Quentin Musty, Filip Bystedt, and defensemen Shakir Mukhamadullin. Those players and others could form the team’s nucleus in three- or four years.
Without question, the Sharks must like the trajectory Eklund’s on right now.
“He’s come a long way in a lot of areas,” Sharks coach David Quinn said of Eklund. “I think we’re asking young players to be mature beyond the years when you’re put in our situation. He understands that there’s an awful lot to being a really good NHL hockey player, and he’s adding a lot to his game in a short period.
‘His D zone has been better, his tracking has been better, his play away from the puck has gotten better. Those are the things that are going to allow him to be a really good player at this level.”
Eklund has perhaps been thought of as more of a playmaker and a distributor in his pro career, but the Sharks want him to shoot more often. He had three shots Tuesday and now has 11 in his last three games, compared to 32 in his first 25 games.
“I want to add that to my game even more and be a scoring threat out there, too,” Eklund said of developing his shot. “I’m scoring fifth out there too. To get that in that position, and it as a great pass by Granlund, too, I want to be able to score on that chance.”
Quinn noted that development coach Mike Ricci and others have worked with Eklund on his release.
“When you’re going to play that flank, you better be ready to take a one-timer,” Quinn said. “He was ready and it was a huge goal.”
DON’T LOOK NOW: The Sharks, now 4-1-1 this month, enter Wednesday seven points behind the Arizona Coyotes for the second and final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. A month ago, after a 5-3 loss to the Florida Panthers, the Sharks, at 2-13-1, were 12 points back.
San Jose still has a huge mountain to climb – and six teams to leapfrog — to get into a postseason position. But the bottom half of the Western Conference is proving to be a sea of mediocrity, and if the Sharks can string a few more victories together, they could become a factor.
Since Nov. 23, their .700 points percentage is sixth-best in the NHL, with their 6-2-2 record in that time representing a huge turnaround since a 0-10-1 record to start the season.
The Sharks go on the road later this week and play the Coyotes on Friday and the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday.
“I’m not going to lie. For the first four weeks, I never looked at nhl.com,” Quinn quipped. “I’m starting to peek a little bit.”
