Eklund Flies From Sweden, Scores Shootout Winner in AHL Debut

The most revealing moment of Victor Eklund's Bridgeport debut didn't happen in the shootout. It happened before the puck dropped.

When Islanders GM Mathieu Darche and Bridgeport head coach Rocky Thompson offered the 19-year-old a scratch following a transatlantic flight from Sweden, Eklund declined without hesitation. "I said no thanks, I really wanted to play," he told Rachel Luscher in an exclusive interview published April 1. That response tells you something about what the Islanders drafted 16th overall in 2025 — and it tells you exactly what they are asking him to do right now in the AHL stretch run.

Eklund arrived in Connecticut on a Thursday morning, practiced with Bridgeport that same day, then stepped into a game against the Laval Rocket. He started on a line with Daylan Kuefler and Hunter Drew, shifted through the lineup as the night progressed, and settled in alongside Matt Luff and Matthew Highmore. The final scoresheet: one shootout goal, one 3-2 Bridgeport win.

On the deciding attempt, there was no manufactured theatrics. "I don't think I'm very good at shootouts to be honest," Eklund said. "I just came down from the flank, see what was open. My shot went bar down, which was a pretty nice feeling." Bar down. First career AHL game. Transatlantic flight still in his legs.

The following night against the Providence Bruins, he added an assist in a 6-4 loss: two contributions in two games, the kind of bridgehead production a franchise needs before trusting a first-round pick with meaningful playoff minutes.

The organizational calculus is deliberate and league-wide. Boston's James Hagens signed an amateur tryout agreement with Providence in late March. Eklund's Bridgeport teammate Cole Eiserman, the Islanders' No. 20 pick from the 2024 draft, arrived alongside him after posting 28 points (18 goals, 10 assists) in 32 games at Boston University. These are not goodwill field trips. They are timed development deployments designed to force rapid recalibration against real opposition before the calendar flips to the postseason.

For Eklund specifically, the adjustment carries a stylistic dimension. He described the SHL, where he put up 24 points (six goals, 18 assists) in 43 games for Djurgårdens this season, as more defensive in structure. The AHL, by contrast, is faster and more offense-oriented. That gap is precisely why the organization moved him in late March rather than waiting for training camp: compress the learning curve inside genuine competitive pressure.

The confidence behind the shootout attempt came from a familiar source. Eklund credited his World Juniors gold-medal performance with Sweden as the mental anchor going into his pro debut. That experience, stacked against the character to turn down a rest day after crossing the Atlantic, forms the early composite the Islanders are building a timeline around.

Over the next five to ten games, the metrics to watch are not goals. Sustained minutes alongside Luff and Highmore would signal offensive trust from Thompson's staff. Power-play deployment would signal more. Eklund came down from the flank on his first career AHL shootout attempt and found the bar. The Islanders are betting that instinct holds up when the stakes get higher.