William Eklund signed a three-year, $16.8 million contract with San Jose Sharks on Tuesday. The contract begins with the 2026-27 season and has an average annual value of $5.6 million.
"I think for both parts, we wanted to see an extension here," Eklund said Tuesday. "We wanted to see it before next year. I think it worked out pretty good. We both want to keep this thing going forward and keep getting better. So I think it worked out pretty good for both parties."
The 22-year-old forward, who could have become a restricted free agent July 1, 2026, had an NHL career high in points (58), goals (17) and assists (41) last season.
"I wanted to stay here. I wanted to show the fans and to (general manager) Mike (Grier) and those guys that I wanted to stay," Eklund said.
Selected by San Jose in the first round (No. 7) of the 2021 NHL Draft, Eklund has 110 points (35 goals, 75 assists) in 174 regular-season games with the Sharks.
"I think both sides were happy with the three years," Grier said. "We'll continue to watch Eklund grow and develop and kind of see where he falls in with the rest of our group as we continue to build this thing. We're really, really excited to have him signed up. He's kind of the first guy who's been here since I started and that we've extended to start building this thing."
The Sharks, who finished 20-50-12 last season, have not made the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2018-19.
Eklund said that has to change.
"I think we need to be way closer to [the] playoffs. We want to push for that playoff spot, we want to be in that race," he said. "For that to happen, we need everybody to be on board. From me, in the next years I have coming I want us to be a playoff team."
NHL.com independent correspondent Max Miller contributed to this report
