The Ottawa Senators didn't take long to decide how to spend the 2026 No. 9 overall pick acquired Sunday from the Florida Panthers.
Two days after shipping captain Brady Tkachuk to the Panthers for three first-round picks and one second-round selection, the Senators sent the Panthers' first-round selection to the San Jose Sharks for forwards William Eklund, Kasper Halttunen and Brandon Svoboda.
Eklund, 23, is the big prize for Ottawa. Selected by San Jose with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2021 NHL
draft, Eklund has produced 50 goals and 113 assists in three full and two partial seasons for the Sharks. The Stockholm, Sweden, native posted 15 goals and 38 assists in 78 games last season.
Halttunen, 21, has yet to make his NHL debut. The 2023 second-round pick amassed 16 goals and 19 assists for the AHL's San Jose Barracuda in 2025-26.
Svoboda, 21, has yet to make his professional debut. The Sharks' 2023 third-round selection spent the last two years at Boston University, producing 13 goals and 11 assists in 68 games. When the United States won the 2025 World Junior U-20 Championship in Ottawa, Svoboda posted three goals and three assists in seven games. That included a second-period goal during Team USA's rally in the gold medal game.
The Sharks now own three first-round selections in the draft that begins Friday in Buffalo. The Sharks, who finished four points out of the final Western Conference wild-card spot this past season, already held the No. 2 and 27 picks.
--Field Level Media
