The San Jose Sharks have traded center Nico Sturm and a 2027 seventh-round pick to the Florida Panthers for a 2026 fourth-round selection. This trade marks the second exchange between the two teams in two days, following the Sharks sending goalie Vitek Vanecek to Florida. Sturm, a pending unrestricted free agent, was expected to be moved before the trade deadline. While he led the NHL in faceoff win percentage this season, Sturm is open to re-signing with the Sharks but will now join a Panthers team vying for another Stanley Cup.
"I anticipate that something's going to happen in those two weeks that we're on the road realistically," Sturm said on Feb. 22, just before the Sharks left for their road trip, which ends Thursday in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche.
Sturm said last month that as a pending UFA, he was keeping his options open and not closing the door to re-signing with the rebuilding Sharks.
For now, he joins a Panthers team tied for first place in the Atlantic Division with designs on repeating as Stanley Cup champions.
Sturm, 29, signed a three-year, $6 million contract with the Sharks as a free agent in 2022 and without a contract extension, believed he would be on the move before Friday's trade deadline.
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