San Jose Sharks
Eklund on What Zetterlund Meant to Him, Being Tired of Losing
As far as William Eklund is concerned, the San Jose Sharks traded a literal family member in Fabian Zetterlund away.
“He’s family for me, his family is my family. We hang out. We have Christmas together,” Eklund said on Monday, after declining to speak on Saturday about the Trade Deadline deal of his best friend to the Ottawa Senators. “That’s one of the toughest days of my life.”
Since the San Jose Sharks acquired Zetterlund in the Timo Meier trade in Feb. 2023, the Swedish duo has literally been inseparable, on and off the ice.
They were even hanging out at the sauna, when Zetterlund found out about the trade.
After practice, the 22-year-old spoke about the trade, his chat with GM Mike Grier about it, what Zetterlund meant to him, his excitement to embrace a larger leadership role on the San Jose Sharks, and being tired of losing.
William Eklund, on his Trade Deadline thoughts in general:
It’s tough. A lot of difficult decisions that they had to do. I don’t really know what to say about the Deadline thing. But it’s obviously tough on all us.
Eklund, on how he found out about the Fabian Zetterlund trade:
We were having a sauna. We’re taking a sauna together, and we came out of the sauna. Saw the call. Never going back there, that’s for sure. (laughs)
Eklund, on how often he hung out with Zetterlund:
Everyday.
Eklund, on how Zetterlund helped him in his NHL career:
It’s tough. It’s tough. (chokes up)
Eklund, on if he’s talked with Mike Grier about the trade:
We had a chat. Not going to go into what that was about.
Obviously, we lost a great teammate. We lost a couple great teammates.
In Zetts, we lost a competitor, never seen anything like it. We lost a guy who wanted to be here every day, want to work hard every day. He was buying in and everything. But it’s part of business…tough to say something about it.
We’re all sick of losing here. I hope this was a move in the right direction.
Eklund, on if the San Jose Sharks are going in the right direction:
It’s obviously going in the right direction. We got a lot of good pieces around here. We know that. Now it’s just time to start building here.
Me personally, I think it’s time to stop losing. I want to win, and I’m sick of losing. Gets into your head. It gets into your off-days. You think about it and stuff like that. I’m sick of losing. Hopefully, a few years [from] now, you get a laugh about it.
Wish him the best of luck in Ottawa. I hope he wins the Cup right now. Then see each other in the summer.
Eklund, on if Grier gave his assurances that the San Jose Sharks will be better next year:
It’s pretty obvious everybody wants that. It’s nothing to hide about. We can say everything we want. I think, Mike, obviously, wants to turn this around quick. I want to turn this around quick. We have a couple other guys want to turn this around quick.
We got to come in here and try these last 17 games to be, I’m gonna try to be better player than I was in the beginning of the season and keep going. I know a lot of the other guys are gonna be better. Gotta step into some roles here, even in the locker room. You gotta be more vocal, including me. I gotta take that step.
Eklund, on message that Ryan Warsofsky, Tyler Toffoli, and Alex Wennberg gave him on the day of the trade:
They just wanted to give me a little room, space.
That’s one of the toughest days of my life, I would say. And that’s a privilege. But it was, for sure. He’s family for me, his family is my family.
We hang out. We have Christmas together. Message was, just a little space, just be a human for a while. And come back and play.
Eklund, on never experiencing anything like this on previous teams:
For sure. But I’m not gonna say I have it tough. We have a lot of other things in the world that’s tougher than this.
But this was one of the toughest moments for me, personally. Losing a family member, you feel like, just for a little while, until the summer. It’s tough, but gotta move on here and get better for tomorrow.
Eklund, on his takeaway from this Trade Deadline:
Anything can happen.
Eklund, on Zetterlund’s reaction to the trade:
I think that’s something for him to say. I don’t think that’s for media either. It’s something that you’re gonna have to ask him some time, what he thinks about it.
Eklund, on what Zetterlund meant to the team:
Everybody loved him. A great guy to all the teammates, all the coaches, all the staff, everybody around the team. Looks like you guys too. He was always a great guy, I know that. That’s who he is.
Eklund, on if he’s ready to take on a greater leadership role on the San Jose Sharks:
Yeah, for sure. I think my game is going that direction too. Going to be more vocal and I’m more experienced now too.
Obviously, my second year, and a lot of young guys coming up here, I’m just trying to be a good example. That’s me working hard everyday, being more vocal in the room, and is trying to be my best version.
Eklund, on he and Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini and the other U-23 players being the core of the team now:
We have to be, and we want that. We’re gonna embrace that.
Obviously, that’s a privilege to be that. Play the best league in the world, and you gotta be thankful for that. But also, not just thankful.
You gotta be, I’m not going to swear, but ready to go. You gotta be ready every night, and you gotta be able…we want to win here. We’re not going to go here and go out and just be like we’ve done in the past. We’re gonna go win now, it’s time for that.
Eklund!!! What a sweetheart. It’s gonna be dope seeing him lead the team to victory one day. I love the last line “We’re gonna go win now, it’s time for that.”
Ekblad popped for PED. 20 game suspension. I already didn’t really want him this offseason because I think he’s already showing signs of declining but now I want absolutely nothing to do with him.
That’s a bummer. It’ll sour the market for him, improve the market for the other high end defensemen available, and make them harder to get.
Eh, I say we still go for it. Peds aren’t that big of a deal.
Yup. Means a contender won’t take a chance so good for us to grab him as a distressed asset even if it’s on a short term deal.
Like Keegan, I was not a fan of the Zetterlund trade at all in the direct aftermath and I remain a bit sour on it now. But in trying to understand the move in context, it occurred to me that the Sharks have been in asset acquisition mode for several years now. Getting the best return on your assets means redundancies are unavoidable, and that’s where the Sharks find themselves now, sifting through redundancies to build a winning product. Up front, there are two obvious organizational redundancies — skilled forwards 6’1 or under, and right handed forwards. Zetterlund fell into… Read more »
“If the plan is to bring in help on defense via trade, I’d have held on to Zetterlund.”
I have some reservations about the Zetterlund trade, too. But I don’t think this part makes sense. The team that has the D you want isn’t necessarily looking for a player like Zetterlund, especially at whatever new AAV he’ll carry.
From a trade perspective, the 4th-for-2nd pick swap is probably more valuable. A 2nd rounder is good currency.
Fair enough. I’d counter by pointing out that the Sharks already have multiple seconds to use as currency in that case, but they don’t have another 25-year-old 20-goal scorer they can readily part with right now. As for the new AAV, the Sens are only getting 18 games of Zetterlund at his current cost. Shelling out for a new deal was going to be the reality for whoever acquired him, whether it was at the deadline or on draft day in June.
Apparently GMMG thinks Ostapchuk will (someday) bring something to the Sharks that they are lacking and is in short supply in the NHL. It also sounded like the Sens were reluctant to let him go. HE was the key to the deal NOT the second round draft choice it seems.
Thanks for the analysis! Taking it into the account, I think the next moving piece will be Eklund. This is the most likely path for us to acquire the key defense player. I think Graf and other NHL ready players are not protected either. With the exception of Celebrini and Smith, of course.
Trading Eklund would be a bad move for both the organization and the team culture.
Eklund will learn to pick himself up and find a new best friend on the team. He’s got to build his relationship with Will and Macklin. Eklund is part of the future. He’s too good to give up in a trade for a #1 Dman when GMMG has a lot of other bargaining chips.
He’s not too good to give up. If he were a PPG player than we can talk, but right now he’s not.
Athletic Hockey card had him as 7.2mil player, highest on sharks. Put what stock you will in those cards, 11th in Pacific for forwards, is not something to shake a stick at for a 2nd year player… however, yes for the right RHD top pairing guy, he is not to good to give up…yet. Only 22, has got stronger every year, is 48 points in 62 games =.774 ppg for a guy with solid PK ability too. Better be a for sure top 4 with good chance at top pairing RHD prospect and only Top pairing RHD; LHD need not… Read more »
Don’t care, he’s a small winger who will struggle to produce in the playoffs. I don’t care who’s friends with who and who the fans have gotten emotionally attached to. It’s all about building a team that can win 4 rounds in the playoffs.
That being said, I wouldn’t want to just dump him for a 3rd liner. If they trade Eklund I want it to be similar to the seto for Burns trade. Although Seto was closer to a better Zetterlund at the time though before his career derailed. Hence the inclusion of Coyle.
Was reading Erick’s post about Eklund and figured SJShorky was sure to follow; sure enough, like clockwork. Shortky’s got a good hockey head on his shoulders. I enjoy the posts.
To be clear I don’t hate Eklund and hoped he would develop into a lesser version of Datsyuk which he still may. I’m just not sold on his ability to handle the physical toll of a team that makes it to a cup championship.
The players with the most points on the Sharkies right now? Tied, William Eklund and Macklin Celebrini. For these two players‘ +/-, Macklin -26, Eklund -2. Eklund‘s production on the current Sharkies is tied for the best at the moment.
Would you trade Eky straight up to LA for Brant Clarke?
I would. Too bad DWjr chose Eky (7th) over BC (8th) in 21′.
Small wingers are a dime a dozen, right shot mobile 6’2″ D men are not. Another DWjr special.
While I won’t go as far to call Eklund untouchable, he is pretty darn close to it and will likely be a core piece for MANY years to come. I will agree that if Grier were to receive a trade offer surrounding Eklund, where the Sharks were to get a top young defensemen, or player that is too good to not jump on, then sure. But I think Eklund will be a perennial 70-80+ point scorer, and an important piece of a “hopefully” Stanley Cup winning team!
Good post. I think part of what’s happening here is that we’re learning Grier. Surprisingly, even 3 years in, he’s more aggressive than I give him credit for. He doesn’t wait and he doesn’t worry about sacred cows. As a cautious person by nature I thought it made sense to keep Zetterlund. Goals, intangibles, age. Grier thinks more aggressively, and because he’s got a good track record (Hertl, Karlsson, Meier, Walman, Askarov…<deep breath> Musty, Dickinson…) I’m inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. My main question as a fan is: How do you see this team being better… Read more »
Agreed, he does seem to be in on pretty much anything that makes sense for the Sharks and more often than not comes out with the player. And regardless of what he says about cautious growth next year, the cap floor is the cap floor. Grier could have gotten there by overpaying his RFAs and UFAs on short term deals, but he shipped nearly all of them out. So he’ll have to spend some major cash this summer!
It’ll be a combination. The team will likely get better thru trades, draft picks making the show next season and UFA where the team has like 40mil to spend.
I think this will be harder on Eky than he’s letting on. Lost his bff and now who will fill that void? Will & Mack have each other, Eky had Zetts to get through these losing days with. Now Eky has to find ways to fill all those things he did with Zetts like going out to eat, hanging out on off days that sort of thing. I know it would be tough on me. I think he’ll get past it but it won’t be easy for him. I’m sure his team mates will pick him up . Hope he… Read more »
I agree with much of what you say, but am uncomfortable with any of us fans saying “Time to man up, Eky!” Of course, if you were willing to say “Time to man up, Brady” to his face when he was emotional about the Josh Norris trade, I might reconsider.
The “this is a business thing” is obviously true. And it hurts to see a close friend depart. But he wasn’t sent to that metaphorical upstate farm where the 11 year dog goes …
I’d hope both Eklund and Zetterlund are excited for each other. Because both have interesting opportunities in front of them.
And in case you need a reminder of how you treat a friend who got traded when you see him next, here’s an instruction guide.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyIzxqYe_GE
Haha love it! He wasn’t called Cranky for nothing!
Oh man haha miss those Murray checks
Still a lot of swedes with the sharks and in the system for Eky to hang out with. Next year is going to be a pivotal one for the sharks.
OK this season is in the books (almost) and you certainly can’t say the Sharks haven’t made some upgrades through it. But even GMMG has said it is becoming time to percolate the soup and let it develop. Blueline obvious exception. The referendum on GMMG will have to wait until next fall, or the next, or the next. As a business certainly few assets are untouchable. Hope Sharks have the capital to address defensive holes. I’m still wondering about the whole package between the pipes if/when Georgiev is gone.
Man, I had been going back and forth with my wife on getting a Celebrini or Eklund jersey Christmas, and ultimately decided on getting Celebrini. I mean, after watching the kid play, it WAS a pretty easy decision. But now, after reading this and also watching Eklund blossom more and more as a person and player, I am just going to have to get an Eklund jersey sooner than later. He seems like a gem of a human. And he is one hell of a player!
I know it’s rare but there are few talented D men that make the jump faster than others (Hughes, Makar, Hutson). From everything I’ve read on Schaffer that is the type of D man he is. Elite. If we draft him and he chooses college or ohl ( or similar league) there’s a real. Possibility he’s ready that following year. All the forementioned players did that and he’s of the same ilk. Meaning next year we are more competitive. Mushy middle would be HUGE success. Following season if all plays out ideally, Dickinson and Schaffer ready. Hopefully. Knowing the nhl… Read more »
My takeaway from these quotes is that Eklund has decent media training and might be prepared to repeat “it’s a business” when contract talks start up after his ELC. Doubt he’ll be taking any sweetheart deals.