Eklund on Why Teams Should Draft Brother Victor, Signing Extension With Sharks

In his second full year with the San Jose Sharks, William Eklund took a big step forward.

For the second year in a row, he was second in points for the Sharks.

But this time around, he upped his assists and overall point counts, with 13 more points – 58 in total – and 12 more assists – 41 in total.

His longest points drought lasted three games, compared to multiple four and five-game scoreless runs last season.

He also scored two of the strangest goals of his career.

William Eklund on Woll sending the puck off him and in last night, and his similarly weird goal against Carolina:

“It’s definitely up there, the two strangest goals I’ve ever scored. So I will take those.”

— Felicia Keller (@FeliciaKellerDB) March 28, 2025

He also experienced the gut-wrenching trade of his best friend Fabian Zetterlund.

Eklund has cemented himself as part of the San Jose Sharks’ core going forward.

And as he discussed in his exit interview, he’ll have an eventful summer, playing in the World Championships in his native Sweden, and getting to see his younger brother, Victor, get drafted, likely in the first round.

Here are some of the highlights:

Eklund’s assessment of his season:

I think I’m going out this season as a better player. I’m confident playing my game. And I improved some things that I wanted to improve. It’s just about to continue improving those [things].

Eklund, on the leadership in the San Jose Sharks room:

We have a lot of future leaders in there, and couple leaders right now, who’s been good at stepping up. So I think throughout the summer here, we’re going to see some more guys coming in and be big leaders.

Eklund, on what he wants to improve:

I want to be more physical. I wanted to be more better on the boards. Now my next step is to take it even further and go more to that and be around that net to get some of those greasy goals.

I think my shot is always a thing I want to improve a little bit. I’ve always been a pass-first guy in my whole career, and I think my shot is getting better and better. I want to score more goals in this league, and it’s a hard league to score in. So I’m going to learn how to score in different ways, and that’s what I’m going to work on.

Eklund, on the feeling going forward with the San Jose Sharks:

I’m really optimistic about the future here. I’m proud to be here, and I want to be here, so it’s just fun to be around the guys in here, and I want us to have success in the future.

Eklund, on being eligible to sign an extension with the Sharks this off-season:

I’m not going to go into it. The season just ended. But obviously, I want to be here.

Eklund, on the potential of his brother Victor getting drafted to the San Jose Sharks:

It’s something I can’t control really, but obviously it would be cool to have him here. He’s a real hard worker and I know what he brings everyday, I’ve seen it on a daily basis. [Any] team who’s going to be drafting him is going to be happy.

Eklund says he and his family will be in LA for the Draft.

His brother Victor is Central Scouting’s No. 2 International prospect. William smiled reminding us he was No. 1 in his Draft year

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) April 17, 2025

Eklund, on how he’s felt following the Fabian Zetterlund trade:

Obviously that was a tough moment for me. It was something that you had to go through and it was not easy, but coming to today it’s made me a little bit stronger throughout the season, you learn how to handle those things, and hopefully get better at it.

Eklund says he's an Ottawa Senators fan this post-season

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) April 17, 2025