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Victor Eklund is a talented Swedish winger who will go early in the 2025 NHL Draft
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Photo credit: Steven Ellis/The Nation Network
Ryan Pike
Jun 22, 2025, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 20, 2025, 01:15 EDT
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In every NHL Draft class, there’s a bevvy of high-end talents that are exciting players, but simply do not seem destined to be available when particular hockey clubs hit the podium to make their selections. Timing, as has been said, is sometimes not on your side.
Case in point: Swedish winger Victor Eklund. He’s talented. He’s a right shot. He was a very good player in a pro league this season. He will likely be long gone by the time the Calgary Flames select for the first time in the 2025 NHL Draft.

Scouting report

The younger brother of San Jose Sharks prospect William Eklund, Victor is an October 2006 birthday, which makes him one of the older first-time draft eligible players in the 2025 class. Born in Stockholm, he’s a right shot winger listed at 5’11” and 170 pounds.
He’s played most of his high-end hockey in the Djurgardens IF system, dating back to at least 2020-21. He’s progressed up their organizational ladder, though. After playing most of 2023-24 with their under-20 team in the J20 Nationell, Sweden’s top junior league, he spent pretty much all of 2024-25 with their pro team in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan. He helped them gain promotion to the top-tier Swedish Hockey League for next season.
Over at Dobber Prospects, their Jordan Harris wrote this scouting report back in January:
Eklund is putting up one of the best statistical seasons for a first time draft eligible player in HockeyAllsvenskan since Elias Petersson. Playing for a Djurgardens program with tons of draft eligible talent this season, it’s been Eklund who’s earned the club’s trust with consistent minutes with the men’s club. Eklund’s pace of play is advanced for his age as he moves quickly and very decisive. He can absolutely rip a puck and score from short and medium ranges in addition to being a skilled playmaker. Like his brother, William, Victor is undersized, but he’s just as dynamic as the elder Eklund, maybe even more. The size will always be a concern, but his brother put it together at the NHL level and Victor has had no issues playing against men so far in his career. If all goes well with Eklund, he has top line potential as a high-octane point producing winger.
As part of his May draft rankings, Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis provided this rundown:
Eklund is so, so skilled. He makes things happen with the puck that very few can, and he’s got an excellent shot, to boot. I loved him at the World Juniors because it felt like he was always involved in the puck play. He might not be big at 5-foot-11, but he does have some decent strength. Defensively, he needs work, but it shouldn’t stop him from playing high in the lineup. His skating continues to get better and I’m excited to see what an NHL coaching staff can get out of him there.
In short: Eklund is a hard-working, dynamic right shot winger.

The numbers

Playing in one of the top leagues in the world as a teenager, Eklund had a really productive season. He posted 19 goals and 12 assists for 31 points in 42 games in the HockeyAllsvenskan. He added another seven points over 16 games in the promotion playoffs, helping Djurgardens earn a spot in the SHL for next season. (He also represented Sweden at the World Juniors.)
He led Djurgardens in goals. He was tied for fifth in points, with the four players ahead of him being established pros significantly older than him. He was top 10 in goals in his league. He led all first-time draft eligible players in points and goals. Fellow 2025 prospect Anton Frondell had a better points per game, but he played 13 fewer games than Eklund. (Frondell is also seven months younger.)
Whatever way you slice it, Eklund had a tremendous season.

Availability and fit

Eklund consistently appears ranked between sixth and 10th on public draft rankings. FC Hockey has him 6th, Daily Faceoff had him 9th in their May rankings. That’s the general range for him on major rankings. If you’re the Flames and you love the player, you would need to trade up to get him, because it’s extremely unlikely he’ll slide to 18th.
Eklund is great! But he’s a winger. He’s a really exciting young hockey player, but given the Flames’ situation and the state of their reserve list, he’s not the type of player they absolutely need to burn assets to move up to get. (They have oodles of younger wingers in their system right now.) If he was a centre, it may be a different story.

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