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William Eklund vs. Dylan Geunther - May. 25, 2021 – Vol. 74, Issue 06 - Ken Campbell

No team has the good fortune of possessing two picks in the top five of the 2021 NHL draft, like the Ottawa Senators did last year, and that’s a bit of a shame because if one did, it would provide an opportunity for William Eklund and Dylan Guenther to perhaps one day play together. Separated by seven months and more than 4,000 miles by birth, these two disparate talents would mesh well together on any team. Eklund projects to be a left winger at the NHL level. Guenther is a right winger. Eklund is a playmaker who can be the defensive conscience of any line, Guenther is a sharpshooter. Eklund is already playing with men, Guenther is lighting it up in the WHL. Both players have the potential to be front-line players for whatever NHL team selects them, but it’s going to take some time. If all goes according to plan, though, they’ll be worth the wait. Here’s how they stack up head-to-head right now.

Skating

Both have very good feet. Guenther is the faster straight-ahead skater, but Eklund is quicker to cover short distances with a burst of speed. “Guenther would get a four out of five on speed and a three-and-a-half on agility, and I would flip it around on Eklund,” said one scout. “They’re good at different things, but they’re comparable. If you asked anyone who is the better skater, they’d probably say Guenther, but hockey is not played in a race. It’s stop-and-start and quick races for pucks, agility in small places, and Eklund is a superior skater in those areas.”

EDGE: EVEN

Hockey Sense

Again, both players posses very good instincts, but they express themselves differently. One scout said you’d want to put Guenther with a pass-first center such as Anze Kopitar and Eklund with a shoot-first player such as Auston Matthews. Both styles require a high hockey IQ – the passer needs to find open players and get the puck to them, while the shooter needs to know where to go to receive those passes and convert them into high-danger opportunities. “The good thing is that Eklund can score and Guenther can pass,” said another scout. “They’re not one-trick ponies.”

EDGE: EVEN

Offensive Ability

What perhaps tips this one slightly in Guenther’s favor is an indisputable fact. You can have a goal without an assist, but you can’t have an assist without a goal. Both can score goals, but Guenther, partly because of where he’s playing now, is in more of a position to score. One scout was not about to compare him to Alex Ovechkin, but he did say there are similarities in the way they find open spaces and their mentalities. “In terms of offense, the hardest thing to do in the NHL is score,” said a scout. “I think Guenther is better at scoring. I do think Eklund is a more well-rounded player than Guenther. He’s a better all-around offensive player than Guenther, but I weigh goals differently than assists.” 

EDGE: GUENTHER

Defensive Play

One of them has been encouraged to create offense all his life (Guenther), while the other has been raised in a culture that puts a premium on two-way play (Eklund). There’s no way you get on the ice in the Swedish League – let alone play enough to score 11 goals and 23 points in 40 games – unless you can compete on both sides of the puck. That is even more the case for young players, which is why most Swedish players come to the NHL with a solid two-way foundation. “Defensively, Eklund works harder, but he’s also (seven months) older because he’s a late birthday,” said one scout. “He’s a little more mature in his defensive game. He’s better schooled in that and held more accountable in that. Guenther’s coaches probably talk to him about it, but if he doesn’t cover his guy, I don’t know that they really care that much about it.” 

EDGE: EKLUND

Sharks Reportedly Interested In Adding Top-Nine Winger The San Jose Sharks are reportedly still looking to add to their team. When general manager Mike Grier met with the media, <a href="https://sanjosehockeynow.com/san-jose-sharks-mike-grier-roslovic-olofsson-free-agency/" target="_blank">he said</a>, “We could probably use a top-nine winger, if something like that comes available.”

Passing

Going into this season, the chasm between the two was much wider than it is now. But scouts credit Guenther in his attempt to add texture to his game. He has become more aware of his teammates around him and is more comfortable dishing the puck off. “Eklund is a little smarter, a little better of a playmaker, a little more aware of his options,” said a scout. “The definitive thing for me is that Eklund is looking to distribute the puck and Guenther is looking to get it. But Guenther is not deficient by any means in either playmaking or passing.” 

EDGE: EKLUND

Physical Play

Even though he gives up about three inches and 10 pounds on Guenther at the moment, Eklund has impressed scouts with his willingness to get involved. Neither player is going to make his mark as a banger, but scouts see in Eklund a player who might have the edge when the game gets into the trenches. “He’s not a run-over-you guy because he’s not that big,” said one scout. “But he’s on you. He’s on you like Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli, those kinds of guys. He’s on you all the time, taking away your space. Guenther is not that guy.” 

EDGE: EKLUND

Shooting

You can probably imagine who gets the edge in this category. Not only is Guenther a superior shooter to Eklund, according to a scout, “Guenther is at the pointy end of the draft when it comes to shooting. There are four or five guys at the top, but he might be right at the top.” What separates the pure snipers from other players in today’s game is the release. Nobody does it better than Ovechkin, but there is a tier below him who are very quick draws. And with time, Guenther could develop into one of those players at the NHL level because he’s already elite in that area. “Guenther is a natural sniper, (it’s) on the tape, off the tape really fast,” said one scout. “Eklund scores goals, but he doesn’t shoot the way Guenther shoots.” 

EDGE: GUENTHER

NHL Readiness

There's a chance this could be the first year since 2004 – when the season was cancelled by a lockout – that not one player from the draft jumps directly to the NHL. Part of that has to do with the quality of the draft class and part of it stems from the circumstances these draft-eligible players have faced. For the most part, they simply haven’t had enough reps this season. By virtue of the fact he’s older and in his second season in the SHL, Eklund gets the slight edge. But scouts reached consensus that at least one more year at their current levels would help both players. “You don’t know what’s going to happen over a summer of training because guys can change a lot,” said one scout. “They lost a big chunk of this year’s development and it’s just not a group with stars at the top of it. They’ve all got more to learn.” 

EDGE: EKLUND

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