The Ottawa Senators will wake up on Friday hoping that the news isn’t bad on William Eklund.
But the injury he sustained on Thursday night certainly didn’t look ideal.
Eklund went down near the boards in the first period and had to be helped off the ice by a couple of teammates. He didn’t return to the game.
William Eklund Injury Update
Eklund’s injury came when Simon Benoit of the Flyers hit him near the boards.
When he was helped away from the ice, he didn’t put any weight on his left leg.
The Senators eventually announced through their official social media account that it was a lower-body injury for Eklund.
Initial concern in spots like this is often for the knee, but that might not actually be what happened here.
A medical account on X called The Body Explained actually pointed toward Eklund’s ankle:
William Ekland goes hard into the boards and can’t skate off on his own
Was wondering if it was his right knee at first with direct contact but he was favoring that leg coming off, so his left ankle looks like concern
Didn’t look like a clear inversion so it could be any of the ligaments hurt
— The Body Explained | Hockey Injuries (@BodyExplained) October 9, 2026
Ankle injuries aren’t as common in hockey, at least ones that happen like this, but it’s obviously not an area of the body that you can afford to have injured while still playing hockey.
If Eklund has hurt his ankle badly, it could be a problem.
Interestingly, Eklund does smash his right knee into the boards area in addition to have his left ankle end up in an awkward spot. This is one that will definitely still have more information to come.
NHL teams are famously discreet about injuries, though, so it might only come to light if an insider eventually shares the information.
It’s definitely a lower-body injury, but as of Friday morning, there’s not yet more known on timeline or anything like that.
William Eklund Stats
Eklund is in his first season in Ottawa.
They traded a first-round draft pick to the San Jose Sharks in June to acquire Eklund, Kasper Halttunen and Brandon Svoboda.
Eklund scored 15 goals with 38 assists (53 points) in 78 games last season for the Sharks.
He has put up 49, 58 and those 53 points across the last three seasons.
Eklund was originally the No. 7 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft by the Sharks.
It’s not the start he wanted to his time in Ottawa, and the Senators’ fanbase will be hoping for a fast recovery from whatever the injury is here.
Senators’ William Eklund Injury Update Doesn’t Sound Like Good News