Top pick Eklund skates with team after signing deal

The Sharks announced Monday that they signed rookie forward William Eklund, the No. 7 overall pick in last month’s draft, to a standard entry-level contract.

Eklund arrived in San Jose from Sweden over the weekend and was still a bit jet-lagged as he took part in on-ice drills Monday morning at the team’s practice facility.

Eklund, 18, plans to return to Sweden after this week’s development camp but will be back in San Jose next month for the Sharks’ main training camp.

If Eklund does not make the Sharks’ 23-man roster to start the regular season in October, he said he is open to playing for the Barracuda in the American Hockey League. He could also return to Sweden to play for Djurgårdens in Stockholm for another year.

“Maybe that’s something that’s got to be (figured out) later on,” Eklund said. “First off, I want to be as good as I can be. I can’t really say what I’m doing right now.”

In 40 games last season with Djurgardens IF of the Swedish Hockey League, Eklund scored 11 goals and added 12 assists, earning the league’s rookie of the year award.

Eklund isn’t the only Sharks prospect whose future is up in the air. Thomas Bordeleau, a sophomore forward at Michigan, told reporters he hasn’t decided yet whether he’ll turn pro this winter.

The Sharks’ 2020 second-round pick, Bordeleau was complimentary of Eklund during a media session Monday: “He’s a great player. I saw a lot of skills out of him. He’s got good speed, he’s smart with the puck. It’s fun to watch him play. I’m sure (he) can bring a lot (to the Sharks).”

Eklund and Bordeleau are joined at the camp by 2020 top pick Ozzy Wiesblatt, who was taken seven picks ahead of Bordeleau at No. 31, and this year’s second-round pick, goalie Benjamin Gaudreau. Fellow 2021 draftees Ethan Cardwell and Gannon Laroque are also on the roster for the development camp.

Four players who joined the Sharks at the NHL level last year are also expected to participate: Forwards Sasha Chmelevski and John Leonard, defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk and goalie Alexei Melnichuk.

The camp will culminate with a scrimmage Thursday evening that the Sharks plan to livestream.