William Eklund Could Change How the Senators Replace Tkachuk

Whenever a team loses a player like Brady Tkachuk, the natural thing is to look at the player coming in and ask whether he can replace him. I don't think that's really the right question with William Eklund.

Eklund isn't going to replace Tkachuk's physical game. He's not going to suddenly become the guy standing in front of the net, throwing his body around and making opponents miserable every night. That's not his game. But maybe Ottawa doesn't need him to be.

The Senators believe Eklund brings offence to the lineup.

The Senators traded a top-10 pick to get Eklund because they believe he can become an important offensive player for them. He already had 53 points in 78 games last season, and the opportunity in Ottawa could be considerably better than the one he had in San Jose. The obvious starting point is playing alongside Tim Stützle.

That's a pretty good situation for a young offensive player. Eklund has always had the ability to make plays, and putting him beside an elite playmaking centre could force opposing teams to make some difficult choices. If they concentrate on Stützle, Eklund gets room. If they take away Eklund, Stützle gets room.

And there is another possibility I find even more interesting. Maybe playing with Stützle helps Eklund become more of a goal scorer himself.

We've seen this before in hockey. A player who has spent most of his young career creating chances suddenly gets more opportunities to finish them because he's playing with somebody who can find him in the right places. Eklund doesn't need to stop being a playmaker. He simply needs to become a little less predictable.

Does a 75-point season for Eklund look reasonable?

But the really interesting best-case scenario isn't 75 points. It's Eklund becoming a legitimate two-way player.

His defensive game apparently slipped last season, but that doesn't necessarily have to become a permanent part of his profile. If Ottawa's structure is as strong defensively as advertised, Eklund may have an opportunity to rebuild some of the habits that made him a more responsible player previously.

And that's where this trade could become much more important than simply replacing some of Tkachuk's offence. Imagine Eklund becoming a player who can score 25 goals, put up 70-plus points, play on the top power-play unit and still be trusted defensively late in games. That's a pretty valuable player.

Eklund shouldn’t even try to replace Tkachuk.

He doesn't have to be Brady Tkachuk 2.0. In fact, trying to make him that would probably be a mistake. The Senators are getting something different. Tkachuk brought emotion, physicality and offence. Eklund could bring creativity, speed, puck possession and eventually a more complete two-way game.

That's not a replacement. It's a change in identity. And maybe that's what Ottawa is really betting on.

The best-case scenario isn't that William Eklund becomes the next Brady Tkachuk. It's that he becomes William Eklund — and turns out to be even better than anyone expected.