The New York Islanders pounce on one of the major slippers in the draft with their 16th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, selecting highly-touted Swedish winger Viktor Eklund! This adds another significant piece to their prospect pipeline after taking Matthew Schaefer #1 overall.
Eklund, a right-shot forward from Djurgårdens IF where he played with Anton Frondell, is celebrated for his high-end skill, relentless compete level, and natural goal-scoring instincts. He dominated in HockeyAllsvenskan (19 goals in 42 games), showing he can produce against men. Despite his size (5’11”, 169 lbs), he plays a fearless, tenacious game, making him hard to play against. The Islanders are getting a dynamic, high-motor offensive talent who can drive play and bolster their future top-six forward group.
Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOIslanders?sid=YouTube
Locked On NHL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Prospects & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNHL
And follow the show and Gil Martin on Twitter where he’ll share the latest news on your New York Islanders and will talk with fans like you.
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/LockedOnIsles
and https://twitter.com/icewarsnyrvsnyi
#Islanders #NYIslanders #NHL
12 Comments
and now aichison! great draft….
Disappointed Hagens couldn't happen. However happy with Eklund and Aitcheson look like good prospects. Whether ir not they warranted trading Dobson is another story.
denis savard was 5f10 and scored 473 career goals size does not matter..
I hope they both pan out but missing on Hagens hurts.
A young wing who is a goal scorer. Duh, I think we need that 😂
Not using these two picks to go get a chance at Hagens was disappointing……but the extra assets needed to do it probably was too prohibitive.
He was born to be a NHL player but must put on 15 -20 pounds and he can do it. Simply to fill out his frame he will put on 10 pounds with little effort
Hagens will do great in Boston. He’ll be very happy there. Glad he’s not going to be in a fishbowl here.
It was not a steal. Just a projection pick who could have gone earlier. So i ask once again after all of this draft hoopla where is the scoring help? Isles passed on the top scorer/g scorer of draft, couldn't land hometown guy they talked up, and couldn't even move their best trade chip 8 for much needed scoring help. No one helps nexr two years. Such a clusterfk organization that isles had to use this draft to build up some future thanks to a fkn jakk ass louzer neglecting that for 7 years and traded 8 just for cap relief. So now who runs sorry pp and fill's 8's spot on d? And going by hagens reaction he seemed happy as shit to stay in boston as a b and dodged isles. And misa will enjoy nhl next season happy to be in sj with their future. And schaefer is not makar smooth and with that skating style wont last long once nhl defenders lay a hit into him. So fkn disappointed i am out of here. Don't know what to say don't know if i'll ever fkn return. And dream on isles if you think another lottery gift like this one that isles didn't deserve is coming next year in mckenna draft. Maybe isles will be the team that takes the big drop next lottery. Enjoy those menial tired tier ufa's isles are sure to sign next week. tb my ass-you suck darche.
Eklund has tremendous talent and the Islanders got lucky getting. The big question is can he add 20-25lbs to his frame if he can then he goes from 3rd line forward to 2nd line forward
Tony D needs to be signed now
The slight frame scares me. Sure, he played against men, but European hockey is a powder puff league when compared to the kind of hits he'll take in the NHL. He needs to hit the gym HARD to increase bone density and mass, along with toughening up all the connecting tissue before he see's NHL ice. Jack Hughes learned that lesson the hard way, again and again.