Prospect Profile: Mattias Ekholm

Name: Mattias Ekholm

Birth Date: May 24, 1990

Birth Place: Borlänge, Sweden

Height: 6'3" (192cm)

Weight: 201 pounds (91kg)

Position: Defense

Hand: Left

Drafted: 2009, 4th round, 102th overall by the Nashville Predators

I was looking for an obscure, underrated prospect to research today, and I had no idea who or how or where to find him. So, I asked Corey Pronman of hockeyprospectus, and he named Ekholm.

Eliteprospects describes Ekholm as such:

"Ekholm is a large defenseman with decent two-way ability. He is a capable skater and has decent overall mobility. He moves the puck rather well and makes simple and smart passes. Hockey sense fairly good, release is pretty heavy and he tries to solve most situations the simple way. Ekholm has proved to be a solid defensemen in the juniors, playing with confidence and ease in his own end. Work could be put in to improve his physical game further and add more weight to his frame which would make the transition to men's hockey easier."

Mattias has played in all sorts of junior tournaments while in Sweden. Under 18s, under 20s, so on and so forth, and he's seemed to have been fairly solid. He may not be the biggest point producer, but at the same time, he's also a defenseman. Upon being drafted, Ekholm played one more season with his junior team in Sweden, Mora. Currently playing with Brynäs IF of the Elitserien in Gävle, Sweden, Ekholm is making great strides in his improvement.

In his inaugural season with Brynäs, played in 55 games while scoring 10 goals and 23 assists for 33 points. On top of that, Mattias finished with a +10 rating, 38 PIMs, 5 powerplay goals and 44 hits. What makes this even more impressive is that his average ice time was around 20 minutes a game. All at the ripe old age of 20.

This season, Ekholm played in two games with the Predators before returning to Sweden to further develop. He made his NHL debut on October 13 versus Phoenix, playing 16 shifts in 11:30 of ice time. A week later on the 20th, he played in a game at Vancouver with 21 shifts and 13:20 of ice time. So far this season with Brynäs, Ekholm has only played in 36 games, but is leading defensemen with an average ice time of 22:21, along with being 10th in team scoring with 16 points. That's a nice improvement in a year, I'd say.

To further aid Ekholm's case, Corey Pronman says he should be NHL ready next year:

I'm not saying Ekholm will be a saving grace if Nashville (god forbid) can't re-sign Weber and/or Suter, but it seems like he should help ease the pain if that ends up being the case. Keep your eyes open, Preds fans.

Alexander Radulov Could be a Predator Again in the Near Future

Drafted 15th overall in 2004, he left for the KHL as a 22 year old in 2008. At this time, he was the team's third leading scorer just behind Jason Arnott and J.P. Dumont, finishing with 58 points in 81 games that season. Now, even though he left for Russia, he still has a year remaining on his entry level contract with the Predators. Regulations dictate that he must honor the final year, but there is an incentive for him returning later this, or any, season: playing one regular season game initiates the final year of his ELC, thus allowing him to become a restricted free agent the following season. Then again, maybe that's not something Nashville wants right now given their situation with Weber and Suter, but I'm also not the GM.

According to various reports, including the one that ran in the Nashville City Paper over the weekend, Radulov could very well be on his way back to the NHL in the not so distant future. Preds' GM David Poile insists that the 25 year old star is the "top six forward that a lot of people would say we're missing" and that "he's the best player not playing in the NHL". That's quite the compliment, I'd say.

Radulov is typically best described as "emotional". As noted in the Nashville City Paper article:

"He does not get happy, he exults. He does not get angry, he rages. He does not try to get a laugh, he gladly plays the clown if the opportunity arises. It’s not that he takes part, he immerses himself — in the game, in his rituals, in his relationships."

In a way, that kind of reminds me of how Ovechkin can play; pure, raw emotion pouring out of him while he plays. Granted, Ovie never really accidentally punched his coach in the face, but that's another story. And hey, maybe that kind of energy is what the Predators need to push them over the top? You never know for sure until you give it a try, right?