"F-k Ekholm" Says Anonymous NHLer when they saw he was ranked above Ramus Andersson

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Joshua Deeds
October 25, 2023 (4:24 PM)

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The Athletic releases a yearly list of the top 125 NHL players divided into four tiers: MVP, Franchise, All-Star, and Top-Line. Among NHLers everywhere, this list recently caused heated discussion.

Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm, however, elicited some pretty serious and excited responses from anonymous players.

In their responses, two players were nothing short of direct about how they felt about Ekholm's ranking.

If we're being honest, the responses were a bit heated and unlikely to be warranted.

A key member of the Edmonton Oilers defensive pairing, Ekholm has balanced out Evan Bouchard. The team's win/loss record has been bolstered by his reliability since he arrived in Edmonton.

Considering Andersson's current suspension, the comments seem at best questionable, regardless of this season's struggles.

Is it possible that Ekholm made enemies during the playoffs last year? When you watch mic 'd-up videos, you'll see how easy he is to get into the mix and trash-talk his opponents. This leads to the question, was it somebody from Dallas, Los Angeles, or Vegas?

Is Ekholm making enemies on ice? Are they Rasmus Andersson's teammates?

Regardless, the trash talk doesn't seem like it's coming from good faith.