There was no fanfare around a determination that was so apparent as to preempt suspense, but Thursday marked affirmation that the Islanders are planning for Victor Eklund to be around for the lengthy haul this season.
Since the Islanders’ 3-2 defeat to the Kings in time beyond regulation was Eklund’s tenth recreation with the club this yr, the Swede — who scored a energy play objective in the loss— will formally burn a yr of his entry-level contract. That is, of course, precisely what should occur, with Eklund having handed every take a look at so far this season with flying colours.
“Honestly, we’ve played some teams, and some GMs go, ‘You know what, I noticed Eklund,’ ” Isles basic supervisor Mathieu Darche said Wednesday. “He’s not the biggest guy, but even in the third yesterday, he’s one against three on the forecheck. He comes out from behind the net with the puck. He’s relentless. He has a dog-on-a-bone mentality.”
Viktor Eklund (38) scored a objective during the second interval of the Islanders’ 3-2 time beyond regulation loss to the Kings on Oct. 22, 2026 at UBS Arena. Robert Sabo for New York Post
Indeed, though there was query about whether Eklund’s 5-foot-11, 175-pound body would show a hurdle to his effectiveness in the NHL, it hasn’t. The 20-year-old’s most evident qualities have been his physicality, play away from the puck and battle stage, with an uncommon stage of element in his recreation.
“I think his habits are really good naturally,” coach Pete DeBoer said earlier this week. “I think he’s got a defensive conscience to his game naturally that he showed up here with. And you combine that with he’ s a really smart kid, so he’s picked up the details of what we want to do fairly quickly.”
The lack of comparable qualities typically is what makes coaches sluggish to belief younger gamers. While the Islanders haven’t fairly gone into the deep finish as far as throwing Eklund into defensive zone faceoffs or minutes late in the third interval, they’re not going out of their approach to shelter his matchups either.
“He’s not a guy that’s gonna cheat the game for offense,” DeBoer said. “He’ll take his offensive opportunities when they’re there, but he’s got a real good defensive conscience when he’s on the ice, which is really rare for a young guy.”
Thursday was the forty third regular-season recreation and fifty fifth recreation including playoffs between Pete DeBoer and Peter Laviolette.
DeBoer now holds a 23-18-2 regular-season report against Laviolette’s groups, with an 8-4 report in the playoffs, profitable sequence in 2012 (with the Devils against Laviolette’s Flyers) and 2016 (with the Sharks against Laviolette’s Predators).
Semyon Varlamov made his first begin on home ice since Nov. 25, 2024, but is still looking out for his first win since returning from two partial knee replacements.
Matthew Schaefer’s twenty fourth objective as a teenager tied Bobby Orr as the second-most all-time for a teenage defenseman.
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