San Jose Sharks
SHOCKER: Sharks Trade Eklund to Senators
The San Jose Sharks have traded William Eklund.
The Sharks have sent Eklund, along with prospects Kasper Halttunen and Brandon Svoboda, to the Ottawa Senators for the 2026 No. 9 pick.
The Senators acquired that No. 9 selection from the Florida Panthers in the Brady Tkachuk deal last week.
The San Jose Sharks are now armed with the No. 2, 9, and 27 picks in the 2026 Draft.
The Sharks selected Eklund at No. 7 in the 2021 Draft. Their first top-10 pick in six years, the Swede was a bright spot in a farm system that had gone dry after years of drafting late. The 5-foot-10 winger became a full-time NHL’er in 2023-24, and over the last three seasons, averaged about 15 goals and 50 points a season.
Just 23, it seemed like Eklund’s best days were ahead of him, but it won’t be in San Jose. He will start a three-year extension, inked last summer and with a $5.6 million AAV, in 2026-27 in Ottawa.
At the moment, it’s not clear what the San Jose Sharks will do with their war chest of first-round picks, but there is intriguing talent around that No. 9 spot, like power forward Ethan Belchetz or flashy defenseman Daxon Rudolph.
Also, dealing Eklund could clear a path on the roster for the Sharks to use their No. 2 on winger Ivar Stenberg.
They could also use that pick to add their current roster, which missed the playoffs by just four points this past season.
Halttunen and Svoboda were both selected in the 2023 Draft, the No. 36 and 71 picks, respectively. Neither appear to be on the fast track to the NHL right now, but are still promising mid-range prospects.
6-foot-4 Halttunen, armed with a big shot, racked up 16 goals and 35 points for the San Jose Barracuda this past season, his first full pro North American campaign. 6-foot-3 center Svoboda won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2025 World Championships, and had six goals and 15 points in 33 games for Boston University this year.
You can replace Eklund with Stenberg and still draft a D, I don’t think the top 5 D makes it to 9 though. I think we are looking at Stenberg and Gustafsson this Friday.
It’s a clever deal, I think the team takes a step back if you just trade Eklund for a pick but Stenberg can be the replacement. I bet the Sens were looking for something else at first but this is a good value for both teams.
Nothing guaranteeing it’s Stenberg at two. Still very likely they take Reid with their first pick. Whether they trade back or not. There’s more than enough forwards in the system for next year. Especially if they re-sign Reavo for sentimental reasons.
Nope
We’ll see. Being an absolutist gets you in trouble though. 😉😘
What a Looney Tunes take, You are taken your meds right?
Definitely no guarantee, but I think it went from 50/50 to 90/10 that they draft Stenberg now. If they are planning on drafting Reid, I’m guessing this is the type of move that would push Chicago to consider trading #4 and a young player to jump up. You gotta figure that right now they (Chi) went from thinking there was a good chance that Stenberg would fall to them at #4 to now having almost no chance. It seems like the no brainer: Stenberg sounds like a better, younger, cheaper replacement for Eklund – there’s a decent chance he’s jumping… Read more »
Might GMMG be looking to package #9 and #27 to move up in the draft and get Reid or Carels or just go for Rudolph?
How far up can pick #27 take you? I wonder
Doesn’t seem like very far. Could package those 2 for a stud vet D.
just guessing, but 27th gets you 2 spots from 9th to 7th while 60(?, the former Avs pick) gets you to 8th.
Patience probably gets you what you need …
Better late than never
I think the org gave up a little early on Eklund. He had a down year and hasn’t blown up as hoped, but he has at least proven his ability to play at least a middle 6 role in this league. He is also young enough and under contract that I think the org could have given him a chance for a bounceback year before flipping him. It’s easy to overvalue the 9OA pick because you can project the best case scenario of that pick turning into the next Werenski or Hughes. But remember Eklund himself was drafted even higher.… Read more »
Agreed in the opinion that trading 23 year old Eklund feels rushed. But the 1.09 pick for him with some prospect sweeteners is a heck of a value. It’ll be interesting to see how the next week+ unfold.
I think its the latter.
The reason you make the trade now is because you want to move quickly to upgrade the defense. its a multi-year thing and beginning sooner rather than later has its advantages.
He was the most valuable expendable asset and they’re looking to make the playoffs next season. This was always going to be necessary..
Snark’s been trying to trade Eklund since …
Obama: hope and change and Snarks wants to trade Eklund
Clinton: I did not have sex with that woman, We were interrupted by Snark, who called and asked about trading Eklund
Snark suggested the line: Life liberty and the pursuit of a trade for William Eklund.
Shakespeare: Snark suggested, to trade or not to trade Eklund, that is the question. The answer is yes, trade him. I shortened it
There was a gold mine of stupid history …
Maybe best to leave the humor to others… 😳
It was actually since Sheng used a photo of him and burns together on the ice during his rookie season for his article. Looked like bring your kid to work day.
Like Forest Gump stumbling through key historical moments 😂
I don’t read this as ‘gave up.’
I think this is still ‘asset management.’ He may very well be worth his 7oa spot down the road, but he is not the player we need right now. As others have pointed out this balances out our pipeline and gives more flexibility, not a reflection of what Eky is.
Simple question, would you exchange Eklund for McKenna or Stenberg + Rudolph
Too many have reservations about Rudolph.
Sure but that’s not at all what the trade was
Eklund and Zetterlund reunited. Was surprised to see him moved for a draft pick vs packaged in a deal for another NHL’r. Definitely gives us plenty of options now regardless if they use 9 to draft or trade.
Chicago fans are in panic mode, they thought Stenberg, but it looks like a clearing move for the top forward. Well, with this rate, everything might happen
The headline says “shocker”, but not really.
Bunch of folks in the comment section (myself among them) thought moving Eklund for a high-end d-man in this draft would make a lot of sense. When the pick moved to Ottawa — a quick look at their roster showed a pretty limited group of wingers — it felt like puzzle pieces that just fit.
And even though aspects of this interview from GMMG from this morning might already feel obsolete, there’s still some interesting insights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFvZgNWUPNI
He mentioned potentially talking to Deharnais, but they had some things going on that may cause them to go another direction. That sounds like they’re working on building out the defense.
A bit surprised at how few players/agents he had talked with and how limited those conversations have been with the ones he said he’d talked with.
I think I’m in the majority, I liked the way Desharnais played with both Dickinson and Orlov.
Grier still indicated patience in this presser. I’m glad to hear it. Playoffs are a reasonable goal, but this isn’t the year to go all in. Unless they get Jason Robertson.
I think many of us support re-signing Deharnais. Good 3rd pair guy.
honestly, I’m more sad that halttunen is gone than eklund, but I’m actually surprised eklund got us 9th overall.
seemed he’d taken a nice step this season.
That said, if this leads to a Verhoeff or Gustafsson or Smits, can’t let that become an obstacle
We would have been picking 9th but for the lottery luck so I’m thinking Edlund got us 2OA 😂
Which will be replaced by a better, more elite LW in Stenberg.
+++ in my book.
A not insignificant amount of our grit left the pipeline today with Halts and Svoboda.
Halts didn’t bring much grit despite the size. That was one of the issues with him. The little I saw of him, seemed he improved on that front this season.
lol! This is how you make your entrance? With an ignorant name and dumb take? Maybe you’re really a Flyers fan just trolling..?
I believe Zeke wins the ‘Argument of the Day” which is the #9 pick is worth Eky + not the #9 + for Eky, which is was. Well Done Zeke! Now to the trade itself, this obviously is signaling that GMMG will be selecting Ivar Stenberg at #2, as Stenberg is an elite upgrade to Eky. Getting back the #9 pick enables SJS to select a top D prospect. WPG at #8 is the key. If all goes as follows SJS might walk away with some very key core pieces. TOR #1 McKenna SJS #2 Stenberg VAN #3 Malhotra CHI… Read more »
That wasn’t Zeke that was me. Zeke came in later with his arbitrary value of 10-12…
and no it’s not signaling Stenberg at all. It can still go Reid or Stenberg. Anyone thinking it’s definitive is nuts.
trading Eklund could even mean Grier is going to try and sign Marchment to add more beef to the top 6. No one can say with any certainty which way this goes. More imagination is needed because Grier has repeatedly surprised all of us.
The odds shifted towards Stenberg, but agree, it really isn’t locked in.
Eklund does impact the cap. It increases the chances the Sharks add someone like Seguin. The Stars desperately need him off their books and its one year left. If Seguin wants 1 year in SJ, the Sharks should get an asset for that. If the deal is trade and buyout, again the Sharks get an asset, but not the player.
Buyout window ends on Jun 30.
Too early for Seguin talk. I wouldn’t count the Sharks out on Nurse yet. Still need to add 2-3 more D.
18 minutes ago …and this already obsolete. Crazy day!!
Sabres now own the 4th overall pick …
everybody is re-evaluating the expectations, Chicago just bailed out.
Seems like they’ll trade it though right? They need a now player.
Oscar hemming!!!!! Take it to the bank
Wow Chicago trading for Byram? Seems like an awful trade.
“Early reports of the return to Buffalo are the fourth overall pick in the 2026 Draft, another pick, and a player.”
Seems like Chicago decided they needed more “now” on their blueline and figured that Mckenna, Stenberg and Malhotra are all gone by the time they’re on the clock at 4th overall. Sabres might want Chase Reid, but maybe Viggo Bjorck?!!! They’d have a buzzsaw quick line with him and Benson
good luck with a line who’s nickname is the Lollipop Guild.., especially against Florida.
Benson and Bjorck are small guys — who play hard and effective hockey. It’d be fun to watch that sort of matchup. Though Bjorck probably isn’t ready for it next season. Almost every pundit I’ve watched has said Bjorck might be the best center in the draft. Not sure any rate him as the best, but they all see enormous ability and potential.
Well fuck. Blackhawks get Byram.
Another interesting way they could go if they were high on Chase at 2 is then to go something like Belchetz at 9 which would be an interesting draft and future mix if both hit their ceilings.
The chances have gone up that the first 4 picks in the draft are forwards (McKenna, Stenberg, Malhotra, Bjorck).
Which means at least one of Carels, Reid of Verhoeff is there at 7 …
Today sucked but holy shit at least I’m not a Hawks fan