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Ice Lab

Left wing · #27

William Eklund

San Jose Sharks Ottawa Senators(traded during the season)
Age
23
Shoots
Left
Height
178 cm
Weight
84 kg
Born
Stockholm, SWE
Draft
2021, round 1, #7 (SJS)

Career · 2021–22 to 2026–27

Games
252
Goals
50
Points
163
TOI per game
18:47
xGF% (5v5)
47.3%
Goals above expected
−17.9
ShowAll teamsSan Jose SharksOttawa Senators

Season by season

The regular-season line for each season, with the total, by team for traded players.

2021–22SJS9044−314:2080.0%31.747.1%
2022–23SJS8213−519:501811.1%12.246.3%
2023–24SJS80162945−4518:4012812.5%1617.641.5%
2024–25SJS77174158−719:3315111.3%1621.950.4%
2025–26SJS78153853−3118:321768.5%1624.450.4%
2026–27OTT3112+118:06911.1%12.061.6%
Total2 teams25551114165−9018:4649010.4%5369.947.5%

Form

Rolling averages smooth out single games so the trend shows.

Form, ten-game rolling

Points and individual expected goals per game (left scale), averaged over the previous ten games. Ice time is on the second chart.

Points per gameixG per gameTOI per game (minutes)
00.20.40.60.811.21.450100150200250
14m16m18m20m22m50100150200250Game

Player card

Model-based

How 2021–22 to 2026–27 compares with everyone else at the position over the same seasons, and the players with the most similar profile.

Overall rating

2nd line

73rd percentile among qualified forwards, blending scoring 40%, play-driving 40%, usage 20%.

  1. 1st line
  2. 2nd line
  3. 3rd line
  4. 4th line
  5. Extra / AHL

Scoring

3rd line
  • Goals /600.6442nd pct
  • Assists /601.4385th pct
  • ixG /600.8869th pct
  • Goals above expected−18.92nd pct

Play-driving

2nd line
  • xGF% (5v5)47.5%38th pct
  • CF% (5v5)48.6%48th pct
  • Relative xGF%+5.296th pct
  • Penalty diff /600.3077th pct

Usage

1st line
  • TOI per game18:4691st pct
  • PP time share58.8%89th pct
  • Offensive zone starts56.0%54th pct
  • Quality of competition25.0%87th pct

Percentiles among forwards with 200+ minutes at 5-on-5 and 20+ games. Ratings rank each column's average percentile among the same players and read it as a role on a depth chart (how).

Most similar players this season

  1. Gustav NyquistNSH/MIN/WPG0.87
  2. Alexander BarabanovSJS0.87
  3. Lucas RaymondDET0.86
  4. Mikael GranlundNSH/SJS/DAL/ANA0.83
  5. Nick SuzukiMTL0.83
  6. Mats ZuccarelloMIN0.80

Faceoffs

How often Eklund wins the draw over 2021–22 to 2026–27, against whom and where, and what a win leads to. Ranked among players with 1032+ draws over the same seasons.

Win rate

31.8%

99–212 · below the 1032 draws of a regular

Against an average centre

31.9%

Opponents won 50.0% of their draws; an average centre would have won 50.0% against them.

Wins above average

−56

Draws won beyond what an average centre facing the same opponents would have won.

Draws per game

2.7

311 draws in all.

By dot, attacking to the right

29%45 · −1.135%114 · +1.435%20 · +4.545%11 · +5.145%11 · 0.029%7 · −2.513%8 · +0.130%63 · 0.022%32 · +2.9Attacking zone →← Defending zone

Win rate at each dot; the small numbers are draws and the xG swing (×100) of winning rather than losing there.

By zone

  • Offensive zone35.1% 47–87
  • Neutral zone31.7% 26–56
  • Defensive zone27.4% 26–69

By strength

  • Even strength31.2% 86–190
  • Power play50.0% 11–11
  • Shorthanded15.4% 2–11

What a win leads to

Shot attempts in the next 20 seconds, for minus against, per 100 draws: +18 after a win, −20 after a loss. Each win was worth 1.3 expected goals per 100 draws more than a loss.

Most-faced opponents

Season by season

SeasonDrawsWin rateAgainst average
2021–22837.5%40.5%
2022–23633.3%32.8%
2023–2423031.3%31.3%
2024–253630.6%31.2%
2025–263135.5%34.7%

Finishing

Model-based

Did the goals match the chances?

Goals against expected goals

Cumulative goals (solid) and individual xG (dashed) through the season. The gap is finishing: above the dashed line, the player scored more than an average shooter would from the same chances.

−17.9 goals above expected

02040608050100150200250Game

Goals above expected, everyone at the same position with 20+ games

−40−200+20+40+60+80

Speed and tracking

From the NHL's EDGE tracking system (2021–22 on): skating speed, shot speed, distance and zone time, for the selected seasons and then every tracked season, to show improvement or decline.

Tracking data (NHL EDGE)

Values from the NHL's puck and player tracking, with the NHL's own league percentile for each. Missing values mean the player wasn't tracked enough.

Tracking

  • Top skating speed32.8 km/h16th pct
  • Speed bursts over 20 mph223rd pct
  • Hardest shot124.9 km/h55th pct
  • Distance skated14 km63rd pct
  • Offensive-zone time47.7%88th pct
Tracking, season by season

Each season against the other forwards that season with 20+ games. A season in progress appears once half its games are played, as provisional: season bests only grow. Bursts and distance are per 60 minutes of ice time, so seasons with fewer games still compare. Percentiles are on these rates, so they can differ from the NHL's, which are on season totals.

This playerMedian forwardMiddle half (25th–75th percentile)Hollow dot: too few games to rank, or a season in progress (*, dashed). Dotted line: no NHL games that season.

Top skating speed

35.9 km/h43rd pct

▼ −0.4 km/h since 2024–25

3535.53636.53737.521–2222–2323–2424–2525–262021–22: 35.2 km/h, 24th percentile (9 games, too few to rank reliably)2022–23: 35.3 km/h, 28th percentile (8 games, too few to rank reliably)2023–24: 35.2 km/h, 22nd percentile (80 games)2024–25: 36.3 km/h, 58th percentile (77 games)2025–26: 35.9 km/h, 43rd percentile (78 games)

Bursts over 20 mph per 60

4.643rd pct

▲ +0.1 since 2024–25

24681021–2222–2323–2424–2525–262021–22: 3.7, 30th percentile (9 games, too few to rank reliably)2022–23: 5.7, 57th percentile (8 games, too few to rank reliably)2023–24: 3.5, 28th percentile (80 games)2024–25: 4.5, 41st percentile (77 games)2025–26: 4.6, 43rd percentile (78 games)

Distance skated per 60

15.3 km35th pct

▲ +0.2 km since 2024–25

14.51515.51616.521–2222–2323–2424–2525–262021–22: 16.1 km, 80th percentile (9 games, too few to rank reliably)2022–23: 15.0 km, 25th percentile (8 games, too few to rank reliably)2023–24: 15.4 km, 38th percentile (80 games)2024–25: 15.1 km, 20th percentile (77 games)2025–26: 15.3 km, 35th percentile (78 games)

Hardest shot

143.7 km/h74th pct

▼ −7.1 km/h since 2024–25

12013014015016021–2222–2323–2424–2525–262021–22: 125.0 km/h, 3rd percentile (9 games, too few to rank reliably)2022–23: 132.2 km/h, 10th percentile (8 games, too few to rank reliably)2023–24: 145.6 km/h, 67th percentile (80 games)2024–25: 150.8 km/h, 92nd percentile (77 games)2025–26: 143.7 km/h, 74th percentile (78 games)

Offensive-zone time

45.9%93rd pct

▲ +1.6 points since 2024–25

38%40%42%44%46%48%21–2222–2323–2424–2525–262021–22: 41.7%, 49th percentile (9 games, too few to rank reliably)2022–23: 44.3%, 79th percentile (8 games, too few to rank reliably)2023–24: 41.4%, 44th percentile (80 games)2024–25: 44.3%, 80th percentile (77 games)2025–26: 45.9%, 93rd percentile (78 games)