Ben Shelley: Sharks loan William Eklund to SHL

The kids' mad skills are clearly evident but it is also clear from watching him that this is the right decision for him and the team, especially for the long run. He needs to develop physically as well as mentally as he has seen what more mature players can do to negate him. Jonathan Dahlen has benefitted from waiting longer to enter the League and he is more prepared this year. William will be able to do the same..just as Loga, Meier, Hertl have done before him

Sliding the ELC contract is risky with a guy like Eklund.

On the one hand, development-wise he might benefit from an extra season in Sweden (although I'm somewhat skeptical of this).

On the other hand, sliding the ELC a year means you're negotiating the second contract with a player who is 22 (and a few months from turning 23) instead of 21. If 2024-25 (which would be the new contract year after a slide) is a big breakout year for Eklund, it could make him much more expensive to re-sign. (This is essentially what happened with Toronto and Mitch Marner.)

Really it depends on whether you see Eklund developing into an elite top-line player. If that's his ceiling, then burning a year on his ELC and getting him to the negotiating table sooner for his second contract might have been the smarter play.