Sharks ‘over the moon’ about drafting Eklund
San Jose Sharks Doug Wilson, Doug Wilson Jr., Tim Burke met with reporters to discuss their first-round selection.
San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson, director of scouting Doug Wilson Jr. and assistant general manager Tim Burke met with reporters Friday evening to discuss their first-round selection, William Eklund, and other topics. Here’s a transcript of the call with some parts lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Q Were you surprised to see William Eklund fall to No. 7?
DOUG WILSON JR. >> Everyone’s got their different boards, right, and I think he’s a top player. We were very happy. We had him second overall on our list behind Matty (Beniers), so to get that at seven, I think, was huge for this organization. I’m thrilled we were able to keep our first.
William is a phenomenal kid. He’s a captain-type, he’s a leader. I’m over the moon that we were able to pick him up. He’s going to be a phenomenal San Jose Shark.”
Q Do you look at him as someone who might be able to contribute sooner than later?
DOUG WILSON JR. >> William played (two) full seasons in the elites in the SHL in Sweden. He was the second-leading goal scorer on (Djurgardens this year). The year before he played under-20 as a 16-17-year-old, so he’s always played up. He would have been on the World Junior U-20 team at Christmas if he wasn’t medically cleared.
He’s always played up levels, he’s a professional when you get
to talk to him. He’s a leader, he’s mature. So he’s right on the timeline of what I believe we discussed prior to the draft, is that someone that we’re going to pick at seven would be on a similar timeline with Ozzy (Wiesblatt) and Thomas (Bordeleau) and Tristen (Robins) and (Ryan Merkley) and those guys. To get a centerman at that spot who could fit on that timeline — I’m so excited for our organization today.
Q
There was a report that you guys were trying to move around in the first round? Is there any truth to that?
DOUG WILSON >> We were proactive. We weren’t sure how things were going to fall, so the conversation we had were about potentially moving back or moving up depending on how the first three or four picks went. When it fell the way that it did, it made it pretty easy.
(Eklund) was among the top tier, the top three players on our draft list. So any conversations I had with teams, it was basically, if things didn’t fall the way that it did, we were positioned to be able to have conversations with teams.
Q
Can you clarify William’s contract situation with Djurgardens? Is he contracted to go back there next fall or is there an out clause for him to maybe be with the Sharks if he happens to make the team?
DOUG WILSON JR. >> I’m not sure we’d be up for talking about that right now. We just were able to talk to William. It’s pretty late over there in Sweden, but William has expressed what he thinks his best plan is and it’s probably a very good one. He fits on the same timeline, but we are going to work to get him over to development camp and get him into San Jose to get to know him even better, and go from there. But timeline wise, he fits the same with our other prospects we’ve discussed.
Q
Can you say who some other players you might have considered at number seven or was William always the guy? DOUG WILSON JR. >> No.
Q
How special was it for William to have the kind of year that he did in the SHL as a teenager? DOUG WILSON JR. >> I think when you get a chance to meet William, you’ll understand. He’s very mature, he’s got speed, he’s got possession, puck protection, pursuit. He’s got everything we look for in our forwards, and he’s a very special, special person. He fits great with our culture. What he did at that level is pretty impressive. He played three playoff games with them, he played the full season. I can’t say enough about him. I’m just very excited he’s a San Jose Shark.
DOUG WILSON >> I think once you guys meet him, you’ll see the maturity. Not only in how he plays the game, but how he lives his life and the role that he has within his own family. He’s a coach’s dream, just how he plays the game. If you spend some time around him, you’ll get the same feeling that we have.
Q
Do you have any comment on the Montreal Canadiens’ selection of Logan Mailloux?
DOUG WILSON >> No, we don’t.
Q
You have been pretty active on day two of the draft the last couple of years. Are there still some players maybe in the second or third round who could be impact-type guys?
DOUG WILSON JR. >> We’ll see
on the reload tomorrow. It just finished up, so we’re going to have meetings after this. We have all of our scouts on Zoom kind of ready to go here. So we’re going to talk to them and look at the reload of the board, but our list is already set. So we’re always very active looking at different things, but it’s pretty exciting to have seven more picks tomorrow. Especially fairly high in the third and fourth and fifth.
We’ll check out our meetings tomorrow, but we’re always open and active looking for the players that we want.
Q
William has said that he really loves to watch Mat Barzal. Do you see similarities in their games?
TIM BURKE >> I think that’s unfair to go to that length there. (Eklund) has the puck a lot, a lot of energy is on pucks. Wants the puck. Good possession. To make those comparisons (to Barzal), I wouldn’t do that to the kid. But what really attracts you to him when you watch him is when you have speed and tenacity with skill, that’s pretty exciting.
Q
Do you see him at the moment more at center or at wing?
DOUG WILSON JR. >> William played in the SHL this year as a 17-18-year old, and they had him on the wing. Growing up, William always played center, and that’s the role he played on the national team. So we see him as a center but more importantly, we just see him as a very versatile skilled forward, so he’s one of those players you can put anywhere on a top line and be good to go. But when we drafted him we’ve projected him as a centerman.