{"id":808443,"date":"2026-07-18T15:25:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T15:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/808443\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T15:25:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T15:25:17","slug":"victor-eklund-finding-groove-with-new-york-islanders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/808443\/","title":{"rendered":"Victor Eklund Finding Groove with New York Islanders"},"content":{"rendered":"

At only his second New York Islanders Development Camp, Victor Eklund is starting to find his groove amidst the New York organization.<\/p>\n

Eklund was originally selected at No. 16 overall back in the 2025 NHL Draft, with the winger now having already made his NHL debut. The former first-round pick got his first taste of League action on April 14th after signing his entry-level contract on July 14. His play following his rookie lap against the Carolina Hurricanes would result in his first career point via an assist for Bo Horvat’s 300th career goal.<\/p>\n

While he’s clearly already quite comfortable on the ice, Eklund said that he had a better sense of understanding going into his second year of Development Camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat time hanging out with all the fellas. I\u2019m having so much fun already,\u201d Eklund said per a recent article from NHL.com<\/a>. \u201cGood practice, now I know a lot of people, not everybody, but more than last year. It feels more comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

This sense of comfortability has reportedly resulted in him being more familiar with others throughout the franchise in addition to prioritizing a building of relationships with his teammates.<\/p>\n

In addition, Eklund \u2014 who is Swedish \u2014 is now serving as a mentor to fellow-Swede and 2026 selection Malte Gustafsson.<\/p>\n

Gustafsson was selected at No. 13 overall by the Islanders<\/a> in late June, and has been taken under Eklund’s wing due to the pair’s shared heritage and familiarity with one another \u2014 the two used to play against one another in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).<\/p>\n

\u201cI faced him maybe once or twice this year,\u201d Eklund said when discussing Gustafsson. \u201cHe\u2019s such a good hockey player, [he has a] good sense and has the size too. I\u2019m excited to see what he can do. I try to take care of him.”<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

Jan 5, 2026; St. Paul, Minnesota, USA; Sweden forward Victor Eklund (18) scores a power play goal on Czechia goalie Michal Orsulak (30) during the second period in the final of the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship ice hockey tournament at Grand Casino Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images \/ IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

In addition to now serving as a mentor figure to the up-and-coming Gustafsson, who is known for his size<\/a>, Eklund himself is starting to garner a reputation centered around his work ethic on the ice.<\/p>\n

Eklund would record 10 total points for the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Bridgeport Islanders throughout 2025-26, tallying three goals and seven assists in addition to earning two playoff appearances.<\/p>\n

Looking to the future \u2014 Eklund, per NHL.com, is expected to embark on his first full professional season in North America for the 2026-27 year. <\/p>\n

He said is focused every day on improving and earning his spot on the Isles’ roster and throughout the Islanders’ organization<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to be better at everything coming into next season,\u201d Eklund said. \u201cI still have lots to learn. It\u2019s important to all be a team here even though we\u2019re all fighting for a spot. We\u2019re learning and getting to know everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At only his second New York Islanders Development Camp, Victor Eklund is starting to find his groove amidst…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":808444,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-808443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/808444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}