Brian Eklund: "Eks Files"

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History

A 6'5" Massachusetts native, the lanky Brian Eklund was a renowned high school standout at Archbishop Williams where he was a three year varsity letterman. A winner of the John Carleton Memorial Trophy, presented by the Boston Bruins organization to the high school senior who displays both hockey and academic excellence, Eklund moved on to Brown of the ECAC where he played in 48 career games. After his sophomore campaign, which was statistically his best in which he posted a .915 save percentage and 2.95 goals against average, he was selected by the Lightning in the 7th round of the 2000 entry draft. Since then, Eklund has seen his numbers steadily worsen, and as a senior he lost his starting job to sophomore Yann Danis. This summer, due to the relative thinness of the organization at the goaltending position, Eklund was inked to a three year rookie contract.

Talent Analysis

It's never a poor idea to select a big goaltender in the later rounds, and at 6'5" Eklund has a large frame which occupies much of the net. Quick for his size, especially in going down and getting up from the butterfly position, Eklund generally stays very square to shooters, which maximizes his size advantage. The greatest pitfall for Eklund seems to be his fragile confidence, which was made more brittle by many 40 shot nights behind a usually overmatched Bears team. He also could stand to improve his conditioning, and his stickhandling skills are very poor.

Future

With a contract in his back pocket, expect Eklund to shuffle off to the Pensacola Ice Pilots of the ECHL next season. The organization, in general, seems high on Eklund's size and athleticism, but he is clearly behind Russian Evgeny Konstantinov in the team's long term plans. In 2003-2004 he should move up to the backup position on a then full Lightning affiliate, after which he probably has another 2-4 years of seasoning before seeing any full time role with the Lightning. In the long run, he is seen as a player capable of becoming a competent NHL backup goalie with a full time arrival date of 2005-2006 at the earliest.

Minor League Preview

After playing strong in pre-exhibition scrimmages, the 6’5” Eklund was struck during practice one day in the collarbone by a puck off a Jean-Francois Soucy slapshot. After a few scary hours that included a trip to the hospital, the injury was determined to be minor (bruised collarbone) and merely warranted sitting out a few days of camp. Upon being assigned to the Hershey training camp, Eklund was struck again in almost the exact location by another puck, forcing him to miss additional time. Eklund, a former seventh rounder, returns to Pensacola where he played in 19 games as a backup goaltender for the Ice Pilots last season. He will attempt to rise to Feaster's challenge of becoming the team's number one goalie. He'll have to do that against fellow Lightning prospect Evgeny Konstantinov, however, who was recently recalled from assignment in the Russian SuperLeague.