Anytime an NHL team acquires a good, proven young player, it's exciting.

But at the same time, it's hard not to wonder, just a little, why his team was willing to give him up. Such is the case for 23-year-old William Eklund, who's just put up two straight seasons with more than 50 points.

As a follow-up to the Brady Tkachuk deal, the Senators acquired Eklund from San Jose on Tuesday, along with two prospects, for the rights to the 9th overall selection in this Friday's draft.

The young Sharks were banging on the playoff door this season, so you'd think a 23-year-old would fit nicely to move forward with their group.

On Wednesday morning, San Jose GM Mike Grier outlined how the trade conversation went with Steve Staios.

"Yeah, it came together fairly quickly," Grier said. "Ekky wasn't someone I was looking to move or move on from.

"Stevie got put in a tough situation there in Ottawa, and I thought he did a great job of navigating it and doing the best he could in a difficult situation. I think once that happened, he was looking for a good player to fill a top-six role for his team. We had some discussions and the deal) came together fairly quickly. So I think it's a good opportunity for Ekky. And for us, it was a good opportunity to add another, potentially, another top 10 pick."

Grier's use of the word 'potentially' hinted that he may not be averse to flipping the 9th pick, just as Staios just did. Grier didn't rule it out, saying that if there's a good player they like in the right age range who can help now, they'd certainly look at it.

William Espy from The Hockey News' San Jose site described Eklund as arguably the Sharks' second-best forward at times this season.

Grier was asked if the Senators came in trying to target anyone else.

"I guess that's a little bit of a tough question to answer," Grier said. "Like I said, I didn't go into this week or this off-season looking to trade Ecky. He was someone that Ottawa kind of zeroed in on and targeted as a player who could come in and help replace some of the production that they lost with Brady. So he was kind of a targeted guy for them, for sure."

This is the second time Grier and Staios, former Edmonton Oilers teammates, have done business. At the deadline last year, the Sens acquired Fabian Zetterlund, who's Eklund's best friend.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News