Remembering Mattias Ekholm in his Return Against Nashville Predators
By Chad Minton
It’s going to be a weird night of emotions for Nashville Predators fans with Mattias Ekholm making his first return to Bridgestone Arena since being traded at the 2023 trade deadline.
I’ll be the first to say it’s not going to be easy to watch him suit up against the Predators. Even seeing him first dress in Oilers gear in the locker room was weird enough.
So with that, Ekholm comes back to Nashville in another uniform, and I fully expect the Smashville faithful to give him the full on tribute he deserves. One of the most underrated players in Nashville Predators history, hands down.
Ekholm sits 5th all time in Nashville Predators franchise history with 719 games. If he wasn’t traded for Tyson Barrie at this past trade deadline, which we can get into, then he would’ve passed Martin Erat and likely even passed Shea Weber on the games played list.
Now, since Ekholm is coming back to Nashville as the opponent tonight, let’s go back and look at his time with the Nashville Predators, and the trade itself.
You Can Argue that Ekholm is the Most Underrated Players in Preds History
Ekholm was drafted in the 4th round of 2009. That same draft the Predators took Ryan Ellis in the 1st round and Craig Smith in the 5th round. Not a bad draft to land on three home run picks.
After that, Ekholm steadily built his reputation and importance as a blueline defender. Not the flashy offensive defensemen we see in today’s NHL, but someone who goes to battle every shift and really doesn’t care about individual success. Just win baby.
Ekholm finally cracked into the NHL fulltime in 2013-14 for the Predators, playing in 62 games on a roster of defensemen that included Shea Weber, Seth Jones, Ryan Ellis, and yes even Roman Josi.
Even though Ekholm never became a prolific offensive producer, he was a two-way defenseman of sorts. His defensive skills were unquestioned. A hard hitter, and a defender hard for the opposition to get space around. Like a brick wall. I dare you to try to skate around me.
Ekholm also played a key role in the depth that the 2017 Nashville Predators had. Not the most stacked roster to ever make a Stanley Final, but one that was deep with blue collar players like Ekholm.
In that 2017 Stanley Cup Final series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ekholm had a goal and an assist in the Game 3 win. He put up over 26 minutes of ice time in the final two games.
There was never a shortage of passion and emotion with Ekholm’s game. I can remember countless times of Ekholm getting heated during critical games, and always sticking up for teammates. I could always see it in Ekholm that he loved playing for this team and this city.
That’s why that trade was painful, although understandable as a business decision.
Looking Back on the Trade of Ekholm for Barrie
This trade is still very raw for me. The wound isn’t healed, even though on the business side I get it.
The jury is still out on Tyson Barrie. I like the guy as a locker room presence and hopefully can help this Predators power play that’s 1-for-14 to open the season. But I’m still of the notion that he’s trade bait if things aren’t going smoothly after the calendar flips to 2024.
This big home run of this trade could end up being Tanner Molendyk. And that’s going to take several years to know for sure if that’s the case, but in the early going, it appears to be an outstanding use of extra first round pick by Nashville.
Reid Schaefer has potential, but still completely unsure if he’ll ever make it fulltime in the NHL.
It was a trade you needed to make to maximize some value, but this is impossible to answer right now on who won the trade.
Related Story. 3 Keys to Predators Taking Down the Oilers. light
Giving Ekholm the Warm Welcome Back
There’s no doubt that Ekholm will get a warm and loud welcome back by the Nashville Predators faithful. And an awesome tribute video to go with it, and maybe get some tears flowing. He meant that to this local community.
Once the puck is dropped, we’ll cheer for the Nashville Predators as always and feel weird seeing Ekholm drop some guy who skates with his head down. It’s okay, we’ll understand.
Ekholm has been battling back from an injury that kept him out of the season opener, but did make his season debut in the last game.
After the tribute video is over and the fans give Ekholm the well-deserved welcome back, it will be time to play hockey and get the win. The Predators will have to play mistake free with an angry Oilers team that’s 0-2-0.
