Eklund traded to Senators by Sharks for No. 9 pick in 2026 Draft

William Eklund was traded to the Ottawa Senators by the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.

The Senators also received forward Kasper Halttunen and the rights to forward prospect Brandon Svoboda for the No. 9 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, which Ottawa acquired from the Florida Panthers on Sunday in the trade for forward Brady Tkachuk.

Eklund just completed his third full NHL season with the Sharks, putting up 53 points (15 goals, 38 assists) in 78 games. The 23-year-old forward, who was selected by San Jose with the No. 7 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, has 163 points (50 goals, 113 assists) in 252 games.

Eklund is entering the first season of a three-year, $16.8 million contract ($5.6 million average annual value) he signed with the Sharks on July 1, 2025.

The trade comes one day after Senators general manager Steve Staios said his team had no intention of taking a step back after losing Tkachuk, who requested a trade.

"Would you like to get an impact player back in a deal like this?" Staios said. "There's a number of different ways you can get there in the end. I feel like the draft capital and assets that we return opens the door for many different possibilities."

Halttunen was selected by San Jose in the second round (No. 36) of the 2023 NHL Draft. The 21-year-old had 35 points (16 goals, 19 assists) in 69 games for San Jose of the American Hockey League this season.

Svoboda just completed his sophomore season at Boston University, where he had 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 35 games. The 21-year-old was selected by the Sharks in the third round (No. 71) of the 2023 draft.

The Sharks now have two of the top nine picks (also No. 2) in this year’s draft at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. The first round will be held on Friday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS). San Jose (39-35-8) finished four points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild card from the Western Conference, missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the seventh straight season.