Victor Eklund is ready to join the NY Islanders in any capacity right now

When the NY Islanders signed Kashawn Aitcheson to his entry-level contract last week, it marked the third of three first-round picks in 2025 who are all now under contract - Aitcheson, Schaefer, who is doing unheard of things in the NHL at 18 years old, and Victor Eklund, who signed his ELC back in July.

Eklund, the 16th overall pick in this past summer's draft, spent the season playing for Djurgardens in the SHL. Djurgardens, a team that was recently promoted to the SHL, reached the playoffs with a roster full of young NHL prospects. But the Stockholm-based team fell in the first round of the playoffs, marking an end to their season, with the Islanders and Eklund set to decide on the young Swedes' next move.

Eklund is ready to make the jump this season

Despite his playoff exit, it appears Eklund isn’t ready to call it a season, as he says he’s ready to make the jump to North America right now.

“My plan is that I’d like to go over this season, of course, and try playing in the AHL or wherever it ends up,” Eklund told Mattias Ek of Hockeynews.se (translated from Swedish). “We’ll just have to see if they reach out. But yeah, it would be fun. I want to play hockey, and if the Islanders or Bridgeport wanted me over, that would be really fun.”

Typically, European players don’t make the jump to North America after their season ends, but with Bridgeport on the brink of a playoff berth in their final season in the city, perhaps Mathieu Darche wants to make a splash in the AHL, with Eklund joining Cole Eiserman down the stretch.