How Good Is Ivar Stenberg Actually

How Good Is Ivar Stenberg Actually

August 1, 2026



Toronto took Gavin McKenna first overall in the 2026 NHL Draft. A few minutes later, San Jose took Ivar Stenberg. And some evaluators thought the Sharks got the better player.
Stenberg spent last season playing full-time in Sweden’s top professional league as an eighteen-year-old and put up 33 points in 43 games, the most by an SHL player age 18 or younger since Daniel and Henrik Sedin in 1998-99. He won World Junior gold with Sweden, their first in fourteen years. He won a Champions Hockey League title with Frolunda. He finished second on Sweden in goals at the men’s World Championship. Then he signed his NHL entry-level contract six days after being drafted.
In this video we break down how good Ivar Stenberg actually is: the processing speed that scouts rank near the top of the class, the completeness that made him one of the safest picks available, the size and skating questions that follow him, the pass-first instincts his own coach has pushed him to balance, and why landing in San Jose next to Macklin Celebrini might turn out better than going first overall to Toronto.
Five years from now, who is better? McKenna or Stenberg? Drop your answer in the comments.

View Comments (26)

  2. Sounds like you’re quite negative here. Just watch Stenberg have a better career than McKenna. McKenna got unlucky with the leafs getting no 1. His ego would’ve needed him to be the no 1 star on the team I think. Don’t think he will be happy as a complement to Matthews.

  8. I was a young kid playing ice hockey in northern Sweden in the late '70s and through the '80s. Many of us kids back then had the Soviet Union's Red Army hockey team as heroes. Our motto was, "If you want to be a good hockey player, you need to be hard on yourself." My favorite players back then were Krutov and Fetisov, no one could match them. We Swedish kids learned that teamwork, not individualism, is the key to a successful team. We learned to play chess on the ice and never using the "dump and chase" strategy you transAtlantic do. Team work is the key. A primadonna? No, thats not us. Ivar Stenberg has talent, but it's a team effort. It is like when the Vancouver Canucks signed Vladimir Krutov. That didn't work out. Why? He needed his old team to reach his full potential. That's my two cents.. Regards from Sweden.

  11. When the Hawks drafted Anton Frondell, All I heard from the Hawks haters was the SHL is a sh!t league whose players have day time Jobs. Now that the Sharks drafted Stenberg, all of a sudden the SHL is a tough league and Stenberg played with men. 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

  13. I don´t understand the obsession with height. He was measured as 5´11 3/4 at the NHL combine. That makes him practically the same height as Celebrini and Crosby. That´s clearly not too small for the NHL. Of course size can be a tool in hockey, but it´s not as important these days.

    Other than that, I think this video is making a fair assessment. I´m not too worried about the speed of play. When he´ll have less space and time, I believe he´ll play faster. He´s showed that he has the hockey IQ to play fast when needed. My guess is he´ll be a point per game player in his third NHL season, playing with Celebrini.

  24. It's so sad seeing these young guys getting stuck in absolute dumpsters. San losé shouldn't even have a team. The leafs are the second biggest chokers behind the oil stain. What a waste of talent.

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