San Jose Sharks’ Eklund has surgery. Now, is he in line for a major payday?

SAN JOSE San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier noted Monday that forward William Eklund is doing well after undergoing surgery on his left wrist that was cut by an opponent s skate blade in an exhibition encounter over the weekend Eklund is now recovering from the inadvertent cut during a tune-up battle between Sweden and the Czech Republic on Saturday in advance of the IIHF World Championships which begin later this week with Eklund s hometown of Stockholm being a co-host Grier announced Eklund had exploratory surgery on Monday in Stockholm and came out of it well but will not play in the Worlds Grier could not say whether Eklund will be fully healed soon enough to allow him to go through his usual offseason training regimen I think he s doing OK Grier declared of Eklund Obviously got a little bit of a scare but I think he lucked out and we lucked out that it wasn t as bad as it could have been Eklund is entering the final year of his entry-level contract and Grier would not rule out trying to sign Eklund to a contract extension this summer Eklund is eligible to sign an extension on July He signed his three-year entry-level contract in Aug shortly after he was drafted seventh overall by San Jose then spent the majority of the - season with Djurg rdens of the Swedish Hockey League Eklund played the bulk of the - season with the Barracuda before he became a full-time NHL player in - Grier explained he met briefly with Eklund s agent Todd Diamond in Dallas last week to get an early sense of what the Swedish-born forward might be looking for in his next deal The Sharks could sign Eklund to a long-term deal possibly for eight years and make him one of the squad s highest-paid forwards Or they could feel more relaxed with a two- or three-year bridge deal putting off a major payday until the NHL s salary cap is well over million The cap was million this season and could increase to million in - A new collective bargaining agreement between the league and the NHL Players Association could also set new contract parameters The current CBA expires on Sept and talks between the two sides on a new deal have already begun I think everything s maybe on the table Grier revealed Monday about a contract for Eklund It was a good conversation with Eklund s agent It was brief but it was nice So I don t think we really know which path or which way we re going to go but an extension is presumably something that s on our radar With his ELC carrying a cap hit Eklund is due for a substantial raise either way Eklund finished this season as the Sharks second-leading scorer with points including goals in games Over three years Eklund has points in NHL games for a points per championship average Calgary Flames winger Matt Coronato who had goals this past season and has points and career NHL games would have been a restricted free agent this summer Instead the -year-old Harvard alum and the Flames signed a seven-year million contract extension on Saturday that carries a million cap hit and goes through the - season Related Articles Sharks have selected luck in NHL Draft Lottery but not as much as they sought San Jose Sharks Celebrini among finalists for Calder Trophy San Jose Barracuda get crucial playoff win before series shifts to Colorado NHL Draft Lottery Sharks look for luck but if not who might they take Sharks Eklund cut by skate in European exhibition battle Seattle Kraken center Matty Beniers also years old and drafted five spots ahead of Eklund in just finished the first year of a seven-year million deal In his first three NHL seasons Beniers who won the Calder Trophy as the NHL s best rookie in had points in games a points per event average slightly less than Eklund s Demanded in April a day after the Sharks season ended if he d like to sign an extension this summer Eklund revealed I m not going to go into that right now Season just ended but obviously I want to be here