Victor Eklund News: Selected 16th overall at draft

Eklund was the 16th overall pick by the Islanders in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft on Friday.

Eklund is good. Very good. And it's a huge coup for the Islanders to grab him at 16. Yes, Eklund is sub 6-feet, but he brings a suitcase full of tools that will make him a great top-six NHLer. First, his compete is elite, and he plays way bigger than he is. Second, his skating, puck skills and shot are already above NHL average. Next, he can play the wall and go inside. And lastly, Eklund comes from good stock -- his brother is William Eklund of the Sharks. Victor has already shown well playing against men, and he stood out as one of the best players on Sweden's entry at the most-recent World Juniors. Ignore the Brad Marchand comparisons -- no one is the honey badger. In a best-case scenario, Eklund is a top-line winger a bit like fellow Swede Jesper Bratt. But Eklund is more likely a top-six one, with a touch of Travis Konecny in him. In either case, it's going to take Eklund until he's 23 or 24 to take that big fantasy step forward, so draft accordingly.