William Eklund and Travis Green are suddenly tied to one of Ottawa's biggest forward swings of the summer.
The report came from Chris Johnston and moved fast through social media: Eklund has been traded to the Senators. Right now, that is the development that matters most. It is the arrival of a young top-six winger, not the full trade tree behind him.
And this is not a random add. Eklund is 23, was the 7th pick in 2021, and still carries the kind of upside Ottawa needed after losing a major piece up front.
His latest season gives the move real weight. Eklund put up 15 goals and 53 points in 78 games for San Jose in 2025-26, which tells you the Senators are buying a player who already produces, not only a name with draft shine.
" To Sens:
William Eklund
Kasper Halttunen
Brandon Svoboda
To Sharks:
2026 FLA 1st Round Pick (No. 9 overall)
San Jose is now picking 2nd, 9th and 27th overall in Friday night's NHL Draft. "
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That is why this feels important for Ottawa right away. The Senators are not adding a bottom-six body here. They are bringing in a skilled winger who can help the attack and still has room to climb.
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There is also a timeline fit. Ottawa just finished 44-27-11 with 99 points, so this is not a club building from scratch. It is a team trying to stay in the fight and keep its core moving forward after a major shakeup.
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The Senators' dramatic offseason just took another major turn
That is the strongest angle in this move. Eklund already has 252 NHL games behind him, but he is still young enough that the best version of him may not have shown up yet.
For Green, that opens real options. Eklund is a left-shot winger with pace and playmaking touch, and Ottawa's forward group badly needed another player who can help drive offense instead of just support it.
His production track also points the right way overall. Before this season's 53 points, he had 58 in 77 games in 2024-25, so the Senators are getting a player who has already shown he can live around that range.
There will still be pressure on the move because Ottawa is not working in a quiet market anymore. After the noise around Brady Tkachuk and the changes that followed, every major add is going to be measured for consequence.
But Eklund makes sense on the ice. He is young, already proven enough to help now, and skilled enough to give Ottawa's top six a different look.
That is why this lands as a serious Senators move. William Eklund does not solve everything on his own, but he gives Ottawa a younger, faster, more creative piece at exactly the time the club needed one.
Did the Senators make the right move by trading for William Eklund?
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