After his season in the Swedish Hockey League with Djurgardens ended Saturday with a playoff loss to Malmo, first-round pick Victor Eklund will travel to North America this week and join the AHL Bridgeport Islanders, The Post has learned.
It’s not yet clear whether Eklund will make his debut over the weekend, with Bridgeport facing Laval on Saturday and playing in Providence on Sunday.
That will likely depend on how he feels after making the trip.
Heather Khalifa for the NY Post
Eklund was quoted in a Swedish outlet, HockeyNews.se, after Djurgardens’ season ended, saying that he’d like to make the trip over and had spoken recently with Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche.
Coincidentally, his Djurgardens teammate and close friend, Anton Frondell, made his NHL debut against the Islanders with the Blackhawks on Tuesday. Frondell was the third overall pick in last summer’s draft; Eklund went 16th.
Eklund finished the season with six goals and 18 assists over 43 games in the SHL, his first year in Sweden’s top division.
After taking some time to adjust to the higher level, Eklund’s game took an upward turn after World Juniors, where he played a leading role in helping Sweden to a gold medal.
“Vic, we’ve been playing together the whole year, we got to play with each other,” Frondell said. “Like always, he’s a hardworking guy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone work as hard as him or like to compete as much.
“He’s not that big, he’s not that heavy, but he runs over guys in the SHL. Especially in the playoffs, the last games against Malmo. Just running over guys, creating a lot of energy. That’s something, playing with him, I feel like he’s creating so much energy.”
The Islanders inked goaltender Josh Kotai, an undrafted free agent out of Augustana University, to a two-year entry-level deal, the team announced. Per PuckPedia, it is a two-way deal carrying a $965,000 AAV at the NHL level and an $85,000 salary in the minors.
Kotai, 23, had a .938 save percentage and 1.99 GAA with Augustana this season. He measures 6-foot-1, 165 pounds.