Sharks winger William Eklund will be in the lineup against the Wild tonight, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reports. He will need to come off injured reserve. They don’t have an open roster spot and will need to make a corresponding transaction. Since no injuries are lingering on their active roster, that will likely be an AHL demotion – presumably for the waiver-exempt Ethan Cardwell, who projects to exit the lineup with Eklund returning.
Eklund’s IR stint was brief. He only landed there on Saturday to create a roster spot for Ryan Reaves’ activation. He’s missed the last four games after sustaining a lower-body injury against the Avalanche on Nov. 1. During that stretch, the streaking Sharks went 3-0-1 without the services of their third-leading scorer.
One of the first high-end picks in San Jose’s rebuild, the 23-year-old Eklund is in the early stages of his third season as a full-time NHLer. He’s rattled off five goals and six assists for 11 points through 12 games, on pace to breach the 70-point plateau for the first time if he stays healthy the rest of the way. He’s done so without seeing much ice time next to Macklin Celebrini at even strength, instead serving as the top scoring piece on the Sharks’ second line with Philipp Kurashev and Alexander Wennberg.
Collin Graf got the bump in minutes alongside Wennberg while Eklund was sidelined, and the young adept penalty killer managed two assists in four games during the elevation. He should be ticketed for a return to third-line duties next to Ty Dellandrea as San Jose attempts to extend its win streak to four and its point streak to seven. The Sharks haven’t strung together four wins in over four years, last doing so in October 2021.