OTTAWA - William Eklund had circled October on the calendar for all the right reasons, and then the month turned on him in a hurry.
He arrived at Ottawa Senators training camp healthy, something he hadn’t been able to say the previous offseason with the San Jose Sharks after a frightening wrist injury. He also had plenty to look forward to: two games against the Sharks, the team that drafted him No. 7 overall in 2021, plus a first “Bowl” matchup with younger brother Victor and the New York Islanders.
Instead, just four games into the season on Oct. 8, Eklund suffered what he described as an ugly-looking ankle injury and had surgery.
He is expected to miss 10-12 weeks.
“Shit happens,” Eklund said.
On Thursday morning, Eklund addressed the trade that sent him from San Jose to Ottawa in June, his injury, and the way the business side of hockey has become clearer to him after watching Fabian Zetterlund get dealt by the Sharks.
His first reaction to the ankle injury was simple: “Obviously, didn’t want to be injured, but shit happens in this game. Try to recover as fast as I can.
You play the game, it’s such a fast game out there. Things like this happen, you get frustrated for sure, but right now it’s just about recovery.”
He also said he was able to watch Ottawa’s win over the Panthers in Brady Tkachuk’s return. “Great.
They played really good out there, proud of them. It was pretty special, obviously, it was pretty cool to see these fans go like that.
It was really cool.”
The move from San Jose did not catch him completely off guard, even after he had signed an extension.
“I can’t say I’m surprised, yes or no. Obviously, it’s a business out there, we all know that, we’re all part of this game.
Of course, there’s a chance it can happen and now it happened. But I’m really happy that I’m here, in Ottawa.
We have a great team here.”
Eklund said Zetterlund took the news well. “He was happy. I called him pretty much right away, he was happy with that, we enjoy spending time together.”
The injury has been especially frustrating because he felt healthy and ready before it happened.
“It felt great. Obviously, I haven’t had that in a while, I feel like the full summer helped me a lot.
I felt really good coming into training camp, good in the first couple of games here. It makes it even more frustrating, but it’s part of the game.
You just have to be mentally in it, so trying to do my best here.”
For Eklund, the trade was a jolt, but not one that changed his outlook on the move to Ottawa.
“It’s my first time getting traded, so you get shocked at first. When I heard it was Ottawa, I’ve heard only good things about this group.
Right now, as you can tell, it’s very true. It’s a big family in there.
We care a lot about each other. I felt great coming here.”
He added that the locker room has impressed him with its depth and how the group supports each other. Tyler Toffoli even interrupted the moment with a shouted, “Hey, bub!”
Eklund has also made time to catch up with former Sharks teammates, saying, “I’ll talk with them a little bit, catch up a little bit. Saw Wenny yesterday a little bit. Good group of guys in there too.”
The topic of his brother Victor came up too, and Eklund made it clear how proud he is of the Islanders forward.
“For sure. I know he’s been working really hard for it, this summer was the hardest work I’ve ever seen him.
Extremely proud of him, doing really good things out there. I’m happy for him to be in the NHL.”
He did not offer a timeline beyond saying he is recovering and trying to get back with the team as soon as he can.
“I’m recovering. Timeline wise, I’m not going to go into that, it’s not a question for me. I’m trying to do my best everyday to get back with the guys.”
Eklund also reflected on the years he spent in San Jose, where the trade and the earlier Zetterlund move helped drive home how quickly things can change.
“It’s a business. I had really good years there, I appreciate everybody there.
They took me into that city, the fans took me in really good. I appreciate all the guys, all the staff that had me there.
We’re going forward here, new team here, I’m happy here. I’m not going to go into it more further than that, but I’m happy with my time in San Jose.”
Asked whether the Sharks moving up in the draft lottery and possibly targeting winger Ivar Stenberg crossed his mind, Eklund said it didn’t.
“My mind wasn’t there, to be honest. In the offseason, you’re just so focused on getting better yourself, getting better to come back in good shape and be good when you go back. It wasn’t in my thoughts really, so I can’t say yes or no for that.”
As for fitting into Ottawa and the comparisons to Brady Tkachuk’s production, Eklund said he is focused on playing his own game.
“We’re completely different players, first of all. I’m just coming in here trying to do my thing and bring the best game I can from San Jose to here.
I think I’ve been doing that in my first games, just kind of be my own player and be a great teammate. Go out there and do the best I can for the team.”
And while he wanted badly to be on the ice against his former team and, later, against his brother, that chance will have to wait.
“Yes, it is. I’d like to be out there today. But, next time.”
He put it even more plainly when talking about missing both marquee matchups this month: “You can’t really control this stuff. I would love to do that, when the schedule came out these were games you wanted to play and it sucks a little, but now we’re here and I’ve got to accept it. It is what it is.”
“I would love that. Yeah, I would love that.”
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