William Eklund exits Senators vs. Flyers with injury

The Senators didn't wait long to make it official. Eklund went down and never came back.

Bruce Garrioch

@SunGarrioch

#Sens confirm that William Eklund won't return to tonight's game

Here's what happened. Just under 8 minutes into the game, Flyers defenseman Simon Benoit finished a check on Eklund along the boards. Eklund couldn't put any weight on his leg as he left the ice. When a guy gets helped off without using one leg, it's usually not a 'he'll be fine next shift' situation, and he wasn't. Ottawa listed it as a lower-body injury.

Claire Hanna

@clahanna

William Eklund will not return to the #Sens game after sustaining a lower body injury in the 1st period.

This one stings for Ottawa because of what they gave up to get him. Back on June 23, the Senators sent the No. 9 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft to San Jose for Eklund, forward Kasper Halttunen and the rights to prospect Brandon Svoboda. That's a top-10 pick for a 23-year-old winger the Sharks took 7th overall in 2021. He was coming off his best NHL season, 53 points (15 goals, 38 assists) in 78 games, with 163 points in 252 career games.

Ottawa didn't bring him in to play depth minutes. He was skating on the top line with Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson, the spot that opened up after Brady Tkachuk was traded to Florida. Through his first 4 games as a Senator he had 2 points. That's a quiet start, but he was finding his feet next to the team's best center, and now that gets interrupted.

There's money tied up in this too. Eklund signed a 3-year, $16.8 million deal with San Jose in July 2025, so it's $5.6 million a year, and Ottawa is in year 1 of that. When you trade a top-10 pick and take on that contract, you need the guy in the lineup, not in the trainer's room.

Next up is Saturday vs. the Predators, and the Senators are expected to give an update on Eklund before then. Until there's an actual diagnosis, nobody knows how long he's out. But the not-putting-weight-on-it part is what has everyone in Ottawa nervous, and it should. If he misses real time, the Sens have to rejiggle their top 6 barely a week into the season, which is about the last thing a team trying to make a playoff push wants.