The San Jose Sharks gave up a familiar face in William Eklund to land something they’ve been chasing in the draft for years: a defenseman with real top-pairing upside. With the No. 9 pick in 2026, San Jose brought in Keaton Verhoeff, an 18-year-old right-shot blueliner who already checks a lot of the boxes NHL teams covet.
Verhoeff is listed at 6-foot-4 and 214 pounds, and the size comes with mobility. That combination is a big part of why the Sharks see so much promise here. He isn’t the flashiest player in the pool, and he isn’t built around highlight-reel creativity, but he plays with pace, competes hard and has a heavy shot from the point.
What stands out most is the path he chose. Instead of spending another year in the CHL before moving to college hockey, Verhoeff jumped straight into the NCAA and played the full season at the University of North Dakota as a 17-year-old. That decision didn’t produce the eye-popping scoring totals some of his draft peers put up, but it did give him a tougher, more demanding development track.
He finished with 20 points, including six goals and 14 assists, in 36 games for North Dakota. He also represented Canada at the World Junior Championships, where he posted four points in five games and helped the U20 team win a bronze medal. The expectation now is that he’ll have a larger role for Canada this winter.
Among the reasons for optimism is the fact that Verhoeff has already had a full year to adjust to college hockey’s pace and physicality. That matters because several other defensemen in his draft class took a different route.
Daxon Rudolph, Carson Carels and Chase Reid, all selected ahead of him, remained in the CHL and piled up much bigger point totals - 78 for Rudolph, 73 for Carels and 48 for Reid. Verhoeff didn’t chase those numbers.
He chased the experience.
That should matter again this season, when he’ll go back to North Dakota already accustomed to the NCAA grind while Rudolph heads to the University of Denver, Reid to Michigan State and Carels to North Dakota. Verhoeff should be better prepared for the weekly battle against older, stronger competition.
There’s still work to do, though. Like most 18-year-old defensemen, he’ll need to sharpen his decision-making.
At this level, speed and physical tools won’t erase mistakes the way they sometimes can against younger competition. He’ll have to be cleaner with the puck.
The Sharks also want him adding the right kind of muscle, not just bulk for the sake of bulk. He spent the summer talking with and working alongside San Jose’s coaching staff, and there’s clearly been a lot of instruction packed into the offseason. The next step is translating that into a stronger, more efficient game.
For now, San Jose is content to let him develop in college. Sharks Director of Player Development Todd Marchant told Max Miller of Sharks Hockey Digest in July that the organization is in no hurry.
“At the end of the day, there’s no rush. There’s no rush to get to the NHL,” Marchant said.
“I say this a lot, we don’t want players just to play in the NHL, we want them to have success. If that means waiting one more year and playing another year in college, then we’ll wait a year.
If it means playing right now, then that’s what will happen.”
Back at North Dakota, Verhoeff is expected to handle heavy minutes on the top pair. He could line up with 2024 first-round pick E.J.
Emery again, as he did at times last season, or the staff could pair him with fellow 2026 first-round pick Carson Carels. Either way, he’ll be skating with more NHL-level talent while the Sharks keep the long view in mind.
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