Sharks trade F Nico Sturm to Panthers for fourth-round pick

The Florida Panthers are continuing their spending spree ahead of Friday’s deadline.

The Panthers have acquired forward Nico Sturm and a 2027 seventh-round pick from the San Jose Sharks for a 2026 fourth-round pick, the teams announced Thursday.

Sturm, 29, has been a third-line centre this season, tallying seven goals and six assists over 47 games for the last-place Sharks. His minus-4 rating is the third-best among forwards on the Sharks to have played at least 30 games.

The Augsburg, Germany native also leads the league in faceoff win percentage at 62.7 per cent and has logged 70 hits and 25 blocked shots despite averaging only 10:08 of time on ice.

Sturm is in his seventh season in the NHL since being signed by the Minnesota Wild in the 2018-19 season as an undrafted free agent. Over 316 career games, he has 46 goals and 45 assists.

This marks the third trade the Panthers finalize this year after acquiring goaltender Vitek Vanecek from the Sharks earlier this week and defenceman Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks earlier in the month.