New Jersey Devils' Draft Target Profile: Filip Ekberg
The ninth part of a series deep-diving potential second-round targets for the New Jersey Devils.
Four-ish weeks ago, I started my many-part series deep-diving potential draft day fits for the Devils at all rounds of the draft — from the Devils’ two second-rounders (~50th and ~64th) to their sixth-rounders, I’m compiling a list of players I’d be pounding the table for on draft day should they be available. Naturally, I’m focusing more on the earlier stages of the draft, as that is where there is the most talent and intrigue. However, I do have my list of scouting reports and notes for players I think will be available come the end of the draft, too, which I am excited to share with you.
Targets so far:
~50th Overall (Rd. 2): Adam Benák, Alexander Zharovsky, Ethan Czata, Conrad Fondrk, Cameron Schmidt
~64th Overall (Rd. 2): Theo Stockselius, LJ Mooney, Tomáš Pobežal
~94th Overall (Rd. 3):
~114th Overall (Rd. 4):
~161st Overall (Rd. 6):
~178th Overall (Rd. 6):
To support me, all I ask is that you press the “Subscribe” button if you haven’t already. This is a completely free-of-charge blog with the sole intention of reaching as wide an audience as I can, hoping to share my opinions with as many as possible. By pressing the button below, you’ll be sent the articles I post on a daily basis through your email, but the real help you’ll be giving me is in putting my name out there more in the Substack algorithm. If you want to go a step further, consider sharing this publication with your friends, family, and every Devils fan you know. It means a ton — thank you!
Filip Ekberg, once touted as a potential top-three pick in this draft, has seen a meteoric fall over time in his projection to an early-third-rounder. The 5’10, 168-pound left-winger had been projected even later until May, when he dropped a near-record-breaking U18 Men’s Worlds tournament. In just seven games, Ekberg logged 18 points (10 goals, eight assists), the seventh-most all-time — tied with Alex Ovechkin and Cole Caufield — and the most by any Swedish-born player by far.
With the 64th overall pick, it would be hard for the Devils not to consider Ekberg, in my opinion. His unreal tournament certainly put him more on the map, and I would be genuinely shocked if he wasn’t on their board at all at that spot.
Without further ado, let’s examine why Ekberg would be such a great target:
Statistical Profile
Ekberg is the textbook example of “the production doesn’t tell the whole story.” Until February, his OHL season was mired by things out of his control. Virtually from the get-go of his tenure with the Ottawa 67s, he was ill with something that lingered for months. As a byproduct of that, his play suffered, and his ice time was limited by 67s head coach David Cameron.
Once he became healthy, though, Ekberg was quasi-unstoppable out there, logging 28 points in the final 18 games of the OHL season, a full-season pace of 105 (!!) points, which would have made him the sixth-highest scoring player in the league. That also would have upped his NHLe from 21 to 41 and, unsurprisingly, doubled (or more) his star probability. We wouldn’t be in the position of talking about him at this spot in the draft were he to have been healthy all season long.
Compared to other names we have looked at in this series, the 15% star probability and 29% NHLer probability are low marks. For this point in the draft, though, they are relatively strong. Let me put it to you this way: 15% is the 42nd-highest mark in this entire draft. That puts Ekberg in the early second round based purely on production relative to league and age. Plus, before this season’s falloff, Ekberg’s production was actually quite a lot stronger.
Ekberg’s statistical prowess dates back several years, too. As a 15-year-old, he made his professional debut in the HockeyAllsvenskan back in 2023. No U16 player had ever logged a point in that league. Ekberg, though? He scored a hat trick.
Skating
For a 5’10 player, you’d expect skating to be a strong suit of Ekberg’s, but the reality is that, relative to other parts of his offensive game, it’s somewhat lacking.
His strides are short, which stymies the amount of power he is able to generate with each leg movement, ultimately limiting his stamina on the ice. When you have to work harder to move the same distance, naturally, you’re going to be more tired than the other guy.
Just to be clear, Ekberg’s skating isn’t bad, just average. The caveat there is that average skating for a player his size is a bit of a problem.
Shooting
Ekberg is a strong shooter, particularly from in-tight. He is adept at lifting the puck to the corners without needing much room, and has the patience to bait goalies before he shoots. He executes high-level backhand shots with businesslike proficiency.
That isn’t to say he can’t beat goalies from distance, though, because he can. Ekberg’s release on wristers is quick and deceptive, being able to change the angle of his release with ease and fooling opposing netminders because of it. He does need to work on the zippiness of his shots, as I feel as though he could leverage his back leg a bit more to generate that much more power. This will also come with more strength and filling out, though, so I’m not hugely worried about it.
Puck Skills
While not overwhelmingly dynamic with it, Ekberg does possess a solid enough bag of tricks to pull from. He is particularly effective at doing so while operating at full speed (or close to it), and can, on occasion, beat multiple defenders at once, though that isn’t something to expect from him on a game-by-game basis.
Around the netfront, though, Ekberg is able to outwit and outwait defenders and goalies alike with smart uses of different moves. He can toe-drag with the best of them, and his hands are as quick as you’d expect from someone with his reach. This makes him, as noted in the section on his shooting, a bigger threat from around the crease than most other places on the ice.
I do think, though, that the “lack” of dynamism stems from confidence, as he was pulling out more and more moves as the OHL season went on and as the U18 Men’s Worlds went on. As he became more comfortable on the ice — or healthier, in the OHL’s case — he was pulling out more and more dekes and acting with more confidence out there. This isn’t surprising, though, but the overarching point is that perhaps he has more in the tank in terms of his puckhandling abilities.
Playmaking & Hockey IQ
This, to me and most professional scouts, is where Ekberg truly shines.
The game simply slows down for him on an intellectual level, understanding the right move to make before the play even comes to fruition. He is a superb player in give-and-go situations, can execute high-level, high-difficulty passes and plays on a consistent basis, and can thread passes through traffic like it’s nothing.
While this is more eye-popping when the puck is on his stick, he does still manage to play at this high a cerebral level when playing off-puck, too. Ekberg knows how to float beyond the vision of defensemen, ending up in high-danger areas of the ice without the opposition knowing at all. He’s quick to jump into the flow of play, understanding not how to react, but how to be proactive, with the puck away from him.
Defensive Awareness
I think Ekberg has a ways to go defensively, but the focus for him should entirely be on offense and further solidifying what makes him a dual-threat forward.
That isn’t to say he doesn’t try — Ekberg knows that the only way to generate offense at times is through defensive play. He aggresses the puck carrier well, sometimes overcommitting in the name of generating a turnover to turn the possession into an offensive one. Outside of that, he does need to work on positioning in general, though, as I said, he should be focusing more on what makes him such an appealing prospect in the first place before trying to iron out the defensive kinks.
Physicality & Size
Ekberg’s frame is a slight one, and he can get pushed around a bit more than you’d like to see. This was particularly apparent early on in the OHL season, where he visibly lost some weight and strength because of his illness. Once that disappeared, though, there was a gradual improvement in that regard, and he genuinely became somewhat difficult to knock off the puck.
Despite his size, Ekberg became a bit of a forechecking savant by the end of the season and the Men’s Worlds. He would always be the first instigator in the zone, agitating the puck-carrying player with non-stop pushes and stick lifts. While he wasn’t always successful in forechecking, he will continue to get better and better at it as his frame fills out a bit more.
Ekberg also shows off some level of heart and strength in his cuts to the middle of the ice — you’ll frequently see him use power moves to get to high-danger areas, not letting bigger defensemen knock him off of a possession easily.
I would like to see Ekberg play with a bit more oomph when things close in on him, though. I’ve noticed that he far and away prefers operating in open ice and can struggle with consistency when the game gets more in-his-face. Again, I do wonder if this will be nullified once he gains a few pounds.
With all this in mind, I think Ekberg would be a superb target with the 64th overall selection. I originally had him as one of the third-round targets on this list, but his U18 Men’s performance saw his draft stock rise, and for good reason. His statistical profile isn’t a true reflection of the caliber of player he is when healthy, either. If he were 1) healthy for the full OHL season, and 2) away from head coach David Cameron all season, we’d be talking about Ekberg as a surefire first-round pick. Sign me up for that, especially at this spot in the draft.
*All videos were clipped by me during the IIHF Men’s U18 Worlds.