Confirmed Trade: [OTT/SJS] William Eklund, Kasper Halttunen, Brandon Svoboda for 2026 FLA 1st round pick (9th overall)

[HofT]

When you bring up Hyman, that's probably the reason they traded Eklund. Just not a great stylistic fit for what they're trying to build. As solid of a player as he is, he also wasn't cementing his role in the top 6, especially a top 6 that is already kinda small and not particularly strong. If he was better at any one of the things that he does (defense, passing, shooting, possession, etc), I don't think he gets traded.

I just find it odd they traded him for a draft pick. 9th overall is a 50/50 chance, and even then, it will take years to develop. Sharks have their franchise players and I would assume they would want to build around them now and have a chance at the playoffs. Have the young team gain experience of winning. I guess not though and it seems like they don't want to.

 

[HofT]

Hold on, let me make sure I got this. Sometimes drafted players don’t work out. But it’s good to draft generational players; that’ll help your team get better. But you still need to surround them with other good players to be a contender. Also because time moves linearly in a single direction, it’s better to do things rather than not doing things.

Just bombs of wisdom being dropped here.

I agree, and the Sharks have their franchise players. They should be surrounding them with experienced players that will propel the young team to gain winning experience. And that's usually through great trading and free agents. But it seems like they don't want to do that. Look at the last while of Stanley Cup champions/finalist. Once they get their franchise players, they start trading and getting free agents. Heck, look at Vegas, they barely have any drafted players. And if anything, it's the teams that consistently only play their drafted players are the ones that continue to stagnant. So, to me, trading Eklund for another draft pick doesn't make sense for the team. Ottawa might get better but not the Sharks.

 

[Pavelski2112]

I just find it odd they traded him for a draft pick. 9th overall is a 50/50 chance, and even then, it will take years to develop. Sharks have their franchise players and I would assume they would want to build around them now and have a chance at the playoffs. Have the young team gain experience of winning. I guess not though and it seems like they don't want to.

Apparently Grier was in on Byram, with the 9OA being the biggest piece. He just (thankfully) got outbid, but I imagine he's still on the phone with teams trying to use those two later 1sts as trade capital for developed players, rather than seeing them as picks alone.

The Sharks are probably still keeping #2OA and drafting Stenberg, who makes Eklund redundant, but I'm of the feeling that #9/27 probably won't be Sharks draft picks anymore by Friday.

 

[SanJoseRedditor]

I agree, and the Sharks have their franchise players. They should be surrounding them with experienced players that will propel the young team to gain winning experience. And that's usually through great trading and free agents. But it seems like they don't want to do that. Look at the last while of Stanley Cup champions/finalist. Once they get their franchise players, they start trading and getting free agents. Heck, look at Vegas, they barely have any drafted players. And if anything, it's the teams that consistently only play their drafted players are the ones that continue to stagnant. So, to me, trading Eklund for another draft pick doesn't make sense for the team. Ottawa might get better but not the Sharks.

You mean like adding experienced players like Toffoli, Sherwood, Orlov, Wennberg, Dellandrea, Desharnais, Goodrow, and Reaves? Like those types of players? Yeah maybe one day the Sharks should totally think about doing something like that

 

[HofT]

You mean like adding experienced players like Toffoli, Sherwood, Orlov, Wennberg, Dellandrea, Desharnais, Goodrow, and Reaves? Like those types of players? Yeah maybe one day the Sharks should totally think about doing something like that

I said great trading and free agents

Edit: I do like Toffoli though.

 

[jMoneyBrah]

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I agree, and the Sharks have their franchise players. They should be surrounding them with experienced players that will propel the young team to gain winning experience. And that's usually through great trading and free agents. But it seems like they don't want to do that. Look at the last while of Stanley Cup champions/finalist. Once they get their franchise players, they start trading and getting free agents. Heck, look at Vegas, they barely have any drafted players. And if anything, it's the teams that consistently only play their drafted players are the ones that continue to stagnant. So, to me, trading Eklund for another draft pick doesn't make sense for the team. Ottawa might get better but not the Sharks.

It’s not that hard. Stenberg is an upgrade on Eklund and the Sharks D pipeline is understocked. Now the Sharks can draft Stenberg AND add a defender to their prospect pool. Or they can package #9 and #27 with other stuff to trade for more immediate help.

No one in Sharks land is thinking the team is a contender next year; or the year after. You don’t finish last in the league, on merit, two years running and then just flip a switch and be a contender. It’s going to take years. Grier has rebuilt their prospect pool, starting from a barren wasteland, to a broad and deep collection of good prospects to eventually roster or trade. They have a pristine cap sheet moving forward, so when the time is right they can add a free agent that makes sense for them. Just because they didn’t get a player in this particular trade doesn’t mean they won’t in future trades.

But if you are only going to use a time horizon of the actual day of the trade to evaluate things; sure I’ll agree with you. The Sharks did not get better yesterday.