San Jose Sharks forward William Eklund is having a strong season and thought he did enough to make Team Sweden’s Olympic hockey roster.
Unfortunately, Eklund was not chosen to represent his home country. Fellow Sharks teammate Alexander Wennberg will get to play for Sweden, which Eklund said he was happy about. In 37 games this season, Eklund has 26 points (10 goals, 16 assists) and has been a reliable source of offense.
While he dealt with a minor injury, Eklund’s season has been good, but the winger understands he did everything he could to make the team, but it just didn’t happen.
“It’s hockey, it’s life. You try as [hard] as you can to make a roster. You try to do what you can to make it,” Eklund told reporters. “I don’t know [where I came up short], to be honest.”
In early November, Eklund told SHD that he and Team Sweden’s management had talked about playing for Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics. On Friday, Eklund told reporters that Sweden liked how he played, but it just wasn’t enough.
“They liked what they saw about me. They like how I played this year and that stuff,” Eklund explained. “But more than that, I’m just gonna keep that private.”
That wasn’t the only thing that Eklund kept private. Players who have been part of the IIHF’s Olympic drug testing must remain in the program to be eligible as a replacement should any player get hurt or be unable to participate. Countries will have until their first game in the tournament to replace players on their rosters. Eklund declined to say if he is remaining part of the testing.
Eklund is clearly disappointed to not to have made Team Sweden. He kept all conversations about potentially staying on a reserve list or Olympic drug testing to himself. #SJSharks
— Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) January 2, 2026
The San Jose Sharks winger has had a bit of bad luck in his attempts to play for Team Sweden. Over the Summer, Eklund suffered a serious wrist injury in a pre-tournament game ahead of the Worlds. Eklund was cut on the wrist and would miss the entire tournament, but was ready for Sharks training camp.
“I went through a lot of things, mental stuff, too,” Eklund said about the string of bad luck. “You learn a lot from it. You learn how to get up and get better.”
Eklund said his focus is now entirely on the San Jose Sharks’ push for the playoffs. Barring becoming an injury replacement, Eklund can take the Olympic break to rest and recover and come back ready to be a big part of a push for the postseason.
“I’ve been like that a whole season. You want to play your heart out every night and work with every guy in here [and] for our fans. To make the playoffs, I think it would be a great thing for us.”
Eklund and the Sharks learned a valuable lesson from a veteran Tampa Bay Lightning team on Saturday. While losing 7-3, Eklund’s impact in standing up for Macklin Celebrini was front and center. The winger says every guy on his team would go to bat for anyone.
“Everybody’s gonna have each other’s back in this team. That’s something we’ve been showing the whole year, and I think we did today,” Eklund said postgame.
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