Sharks’ William Eklund to return to lineup vs. Wild

The San Jose Sharks are getting a key piece of their lineup back, as winger William Eklund will be activated from injured reserve and returning to the lineup for Tuesday’s game against the Minnesota Wild.

Eklund had missed the last four games with a lower-body injury that he sustained during the Sharks’ 3-2 overtime win over the Colorado Avalanche. He was thought of as day-to-day, but eventually needed a brief stint on IR in order to make roster space for Ryan Reaves. The Sharks went 3-0-1 in Eklund’s absence.

With Eklund being activated from IR, the Sharks will need to make a corresponding move to free up a space on their 23-man roster. While the move is not confirmed, it will likely be Ethan Cardwell being demoted to AHL to play with San Jose’s minor league affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, as he was removed from the lineup in place of Eklund, and is exempt from waivers.

Eklund will be returning to the lineup back in the top six, playing alongside Alex Wennberg and Philipp Kurashev. This has been Eklund’s most common linemates this season, and they have outscored opponents 4-2 while sporting a 40% 5v5 expected goal share in 53:30 of ice time together. Eklund will also join the top power play unit alongside Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Tyler Toffoli and John Klingberg.

Eklund has had an excellent start to the season with five goals and six assists for 11 points in 12 games. That’s put him on pace for 71 points this season, which would easily eclipse his previous career high of 58 points set last season and continue his steady development over his four-season career.

The Sharks will look to build on their six-game point streak when they visit the Wild on Tuesday at 5 p.m. PST. San Jose has a 7-6-3 record, which is good enough for sixth in the Pacific Division.