Sheng Peng
What does the rest of the NHL think about the William Eklund trade?
On Tuesday, the San Jose Sharks sent Eklund, along with prospects Kasper Halttunen and Brandon Svoboda, to the Ottawa Senators for the No. 9 pick in the 2026 Draft.
A lot of the talk after the trade focused on what San Jose would do with the ninth-overall.
But in the first place, did they get enough for Eklund?
I asked five NHL scouts or executives, representing five different NHL teams, none the Sharks or Sens, if San Jose got a reasonable return for the Swedish winger.
Eklund was the No. 7 pick of the 2021 Draft, and in his first three full seasons, had 45, 58, and 53 points.
“Had a tough year, but still only 23 and still has some runway left,” Scout #1 said. “I like Eklund.”
That said, across the board, these sources think that San Jose did well in the Eklund trade.
“They got good value out of Eklund,” Scout #1 added.
“Solid deal,” Executive #1 said.
“Fair deal,” Scout #2 said.
“Makes a lot of sense for San Jose,” Scout #3 said.
“I imagine they’re going to use the No. 9 to try and get a D,” Scout #1 said, “that would make sense.”
We’ll get to that point in a second.
The Eklund trade felt like the Sharks dealing a player who they liked, but didn’t love, though GM Mike Grier contends that they weren’t “looking to move” the playmaking winger.
I say that, because that’s who you make “fair” trades with. You try harder to keep those you love.
For what it’s worth, a couple scouts thought that the Senators overpaid for Eklund.
“I wouldn’t have wanted us to trade [No. 9] for him,” Scout #1 said.
Scout #4 agreed: “I was surprised they got No. 9.”
Spinning No. 9 Into Gold?
The San Jose Sharks are on the hunt for help on the blueline.
“We’ve been pretty clear about wanting to improve the back-end,” Grier said on Wednesday.
He also confirmed that the Sharks were interested in defenseman Bowen Byram, traded from the Buffalo Sabres to the Chicago Blackhawks for the 2026 No. 4 pick and more. Grier didn’t say if the No. 9 was in play for Byram, but you can read between the lines.
“Chicago was sitting there saying, okay, we know San Jose’s got No. 9, because they weren’t trading No. 2 after the Eklund deal,” Elliotte Friedman said on the Fan Hockey Show today. “We know the Rangers have No. 5. And we have No. 4. If we want this player, we’re going to have to do No. 4.”
John Buccigross seemed to suggest last night that the Sharks had offered the No. 9 and 27 picks in the 2026 Draft, and a prospect for Byram.
If not Byrum, how about Filip Hronek or Zach Werenski?
For what it’s worth, Frank Seravalli reported today that Hronek isn’t going anywhere, and the rebuilding Vancouver Canucks might even make the veteran defenseman their captain.
Of course, the Sharks don’t have to use No. 9 to improve their blueline.
Power winger Matthew Knies does seem very up Grier’s alley: