Bigger trade now an option after Sharks deal William Eklund for No. 9 draft pick originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
What’s next for the Sharks after trading William Eklund to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday?
The Sharks dealt Eklund, along with prospects Kasper Halttunen and Brandon Svoboda, to the Senators for the No. 9 overall pick of the 2026 NHL Draft.
So why did the Sharks move on from the popular winger?
It doesn’t feel like general manager Mike Grier is done. On the surface, it doesn’t make sense for a team that’s trying to get back into the playoff picture to trade an established and improving 23-year-old winger in Eklund for just a draft pick, however high, especially when there are clear holes on the Sharks’ blueline.
At the moment, the Sharks have just two blueliners signed, veteran Dmitry Orlov and sophomore Sam Dickinson, and a couple RFAs in Michael Kesselring and Shakir Mukhamadullin.
So using that No. 9 pick for some defensive help right now makes sense.
It is San Jose Hockey Now’s understanding that the Sharks had “lots of interest” in top-pairing defenseman Bowen Byram, who was dealt after the Eklund trade.
The Buffalo Sabres sent Byram, 25, and cap-dump bottom-six winger Jordan Greenway to the Chicago Blackhawks for the No. 4 and 45 picks, and 24-year-old defenseman Louis Crevier.
At this time, SJHN can’t confirm if the Sharks had offered the No. 9 overall pick for Byram. But obviously, the No. 4 overall trumps that. And while San Jose also possesses the No. 2 overall, that’s probably too rich an asset to surrender for Byram, not considered a true-blue No. 1 defenseman, especially with winger Ivar Stenberg likely on the board right there, if the Toronto Maple Leafs make Gavin McKenna the No. 1 overall pick, as expected.
Back to Eklund: The No. 7 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft had developed into a consistent 15-goal and 50-point winger, and at just 23, he certainly had lots of room to grow.
But the 5-foot-10 winger didn’t take the leap in his development expected of him this past season, which perhaps made him just a little more expendable than the rest of the Sharks’ deep cadre of talented forwards.
The presence of a talent like winger Stenberg at the No. 2 pick probably also made Eklund a little more expendable. Stenberg is coming off one of the most productive campaigns in SHL and World Championships history for a first-time draft-eligible, and is expected to be NHL-ready immediately.
So Grier packaged Eklund and a couple of solid but unremarkable prospects in Halttunen and Svoboda to acquire a very valuable and liquid asset in the No. 9 pick.
A smaller winger like Eklund, however skilled, isn’t every team’s cup of tea, but everybody likes a top-10 draft pick.
And even if Grier can’t flip that No. 9 pick for some defensive help by the draft this weekend, whoever he selects there will be a very valuable asset who hasn’t peaked in value, unlike Eklund, whose value, arguably, could be at the beginning of its decline after his up-and-down year.
We’ll see if Eklund can bounce back with the Senators next season. The talented and competitive winger is a good bet to do so.
But now, the Sharks are armed with the No. 2, No. 9, and No. 27 picks in the 2026 draft. Just speculating, but could No. 9 be a centerpiece in a trade for Vancouver Canucks blueliner Filip Hronek?
San Jose will have to add more to land Hronek, for sure. Like Byram, Hronek is thought of, ideally, as more of a strong two-way No. 2 defenseman on a playoff-caliber team.
The right-hander, 28, is older than Byram, and he’s got a full No Movement Clause. Hronek has not signaled that he wants to leave Vancouver, but the last-place Canucks have made clear that they are entering a rebuild.
Hronek is signed at a very reasonable $7.25 million AAV until 2032, unlike Byram, who is set to become a UFA in 2027.
On the balance, a Hronek package would probably resemble Byram’s, with the Sharks having to make up the difference between the No. 4 and 9 selections by dipping again into their deep prospects pool and/or also including the No. 27.
Multiple league sources, including three NHL scouts, agreed that the No. 9 was a suitable centerpiece for a defenseman of Hronek’s quality.
“It’s a good starting point, for sure.”
The white whale could also be out there for Grier.
There’s credible chatter that reigning Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski could be available this offseason.
The Columbus Blue Jackets superstar is 28, set to be a UFA in the summer of 2028, so he comes with some flight risk.
Werenski will also hit 30, when, in theory, complementary potential stars like Will Smith and Igor Chernyshov and Michael Misa are in their primes.
But Grier, when asked on Tuesday morning about the age range that he’s considering, if he takes a “big swing” via trade this summer, gave what could be considered a telling answer.
“Ideally, someone in their mid-20’s, early-to-mid 20’s, who’s been in the league a little bit, got through the growing pains, and you have a pretty good idea what that player is and what they can bring to the organization,” Grier said. “Someone who’s been in the league a little bit, so whether that’s 22, 23 to 27, 28 somewhere in there.”
Just speculating: Would you offer the No. 2 and 9 picks to the Blue Jackets, to start, for Werenski?
These are the kinds of doors that trading Eklund could open for the Sharks … will Grier walk through?
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