Preview/Lines #10: Eklund Believes He Belongs in NHL

“I feel like I belong here.”

William Eklund thinks he’s made his case to stay in the NHL.

Question is, do the San Jose Sharks agree? On the eve of their 2021 first-round pick’s ninth NHL game – if the Sharks keep him around after tonight, they will be burning the first year of his entry-level contract – they’ve yet to tell him if he gets to move out of the San Jose hotel that he’s been living at since September.

“I like it, actually,” Eklund said, laughing, about living in a hotel. “But it’d be nice to have something else.”

Eklund has notched four assists in eight games, but beyond that, he’s also been in the middle of a lot of offense.

The 19-year-old agreed: “I think I’m creating chances every game. Be a creative forward and get some scoring opportunities.”

A decent number of Eklund set-ups this season have resulted in Grade-A scoring chances — albeit unfinished Grade-A’s. And he still sees areas where he can improve offensively: “Taking the puck to the net a little bit more.”

These #LosTiburones warmups 😍😍

And you can have one! Bidding is open until 8 p.m.👉 https://t.co/EliVVEu6gy

Proceeds benefit @HFSVpage. pic.twitter.com/y4voSnS8sF

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) October 31, 2021

San Jose Sharks (6-3-0)

Only six Sharks defensemen on the ice this AM, and Hatakka's not one of them. Looked like Kniazev was paired with Meloche.

Forward lines
Couture w/Eklund, Dahlen
Hertl w/Barabanov, Balcers
Bonino w/Cogliano, N. Merkley
Weatherby w/Pederson, Gadjovich

— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) November 4, 2021

Adin Hill starts and Artemi Kniazev will be making his NHL debut. John Leonard will be scratched and Santeri Hatakka is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

MacLean says Ray Tufts, who's in COVID protocol, is "okay" — hopefully so, in his position as head trainer, Tufts is on the front line of COVID as far as #SJSharks are concerned. Deserves some recognition

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 4, 2021

St. Louis Blues (6-1-1)

This is how the Blues lined up last night in their shootout loss to the Kings – will rookie Joel Hofer get his first NHL start? Jordan Binnington played in LA:

#stlblues lineup vs. LA:

Kyrou-Schenn-Perron
Barbashev-Thomas-Tarasenko
Saad-Bozak-Buchnevich
Kostin-Joshua-Neal

Scandella-Parayko
Krug-Faulk
Walman-Bortuzzo

Binnington

— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) November 4, 2021

Where to Watch

Puck drop against St. Louis is 7:30 PM PT at SAP Center. Watch it live on NBC Sports Bay Area and ESPN+. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.