NHL trade grades: Senators add Eklund as Tkachuk replacement, Sharks get another top-10 pick
The trade
Ottawa Senators receive: F William Eklund, F Kasper Halttunen, rights to Brandon Svoboda
San Jose Sharks receive: No. 9 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft
Corey Pronman: Eklund is a dynamic skater and playmaker who can make a lot of highly creative plays in motion due to his great edge work and elusiveness. Eklund has the high-end sense to create chances off the perimeter, but he also has great small-area skills, and despite his size he can create offense at the net. He is a pass-first type of player, but has a decent shot when he does opt to shoot. He projects long-term as a likely second-line wing.
Halttunen, 21, is a big, powerful winger with very good hands and a bullet shot that projects to beat NHL goalies from range. His skating and pace are not the best, though, and he can make questionable decisions with the puck. When he’s competing and knocking guys around with his body, he looks like a legit NHL player, but his compete can be inconsistent. He projects as a bottom-six wing.
Svoboda’s offensive production will never inspire, but he’s a clear NHL athlete who has a lot of attributes for the next level. The 21-year-old forward is big, fast and direct, with good hands, and he provides value at both ends of the ice. Svoboda doesn’t make many plays, but he has enough touch to get a few points versus men.
San Jose’s main asset is the No. 9 pick, which seems almost assured to be a top defenseman prospect in the 2026 draft — perhaps a player such as Daxon Rudolph, Keaton Verhoeff or Malte Gustafsson. They are equivalent prospects to Eklund, but at a more premium position. San Jose navigates their position of strength (wing) in a way to get in at the back end of a strong top-10 group of defense prospects. It is impressive work by GM Mike Grier.
Ottawa addresses their forward need, but it’s obviously a steep drop off from Brady Tkachuk to Eklund.
Sharks grade: A
Senators grade: B
Top 6 defensemen in the NHL Draft
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Shayna Goldman: The Senators could have viewed the No. 9 pick in this year’s draft as a chance to find their next franchise forward in Tkachuk’s absence. The problem is, that would take a lot more patience, and Ottawa may not have it after rebuilding all the way to this point. So it makes sense management is using parts of the Tkachuk return to retool this forward group on the fly.
Adding two forward prospects is a nice get, but the centerpiece is obviously Eklund. He really isn’t a Tkachuk replacement and likely can’t fill his spot on Day 1. But at 23 years old, he shows a lot top-six promise. His playmaking is developing into a real strength; he set up a ton of his teammates’ chances this season with some high-danger passes. Those are some of the shared traits that make Nikolaj Ehlers a really exciting comp. Pair Eklund’s passing with his defensive growth, and there’s a path to him becoming a true shutdown forward, such as Elias Lindholm or Brandon Hagel.
The Senators still have a lot of work to do, and more assets to use from the Tkachuk trade, but this is a good start.
The Sharks have already been pretty active in the days leading up to the draft, but this is the trade that should answer any lingering questions about the No. 2 pick. As much as San Jose needs help on defense, that pick had to be used for the best player available, not for need. That likely means Ivar Stenberg, which would have given this team a surplus of up-and-coming talent on the wing. It’s a good problem to have, because it allows management to make deals to address that, and this trade is a proactive start.
The risk is that the Sharks are giving up on Eklund too soon, but the No. 9 pick is a pretty valuable asset to work with, whether management uses it to deepen its pipeline (potentially with a high-end defenseman) or as yet another trade asset. San Jose is poised to have three first-rounders in this year’s draft, which would move the needle on its rebuild. This team just keeps creating more options to build.
Sharks grade: A-
Senators grade: B+
