TORONTO – With his dynamic playmaking ability, hockey acumen and NHL readiness, San Jose Sharks winger Ivar Stenberg was considered by most to be one of the top two players available in June’s draft.
Yet, Stenberg never felt like the Toronto Maple Leafs were interested in taking him with the No. 1 overall pick.
“I was pretty sure I would not go first overall,” Stenberg told Bay Area News Group earlier this week. “I didn’t have good meetings with Toronto and didn’t feel like it was the team for me.”
As expected, the Leafs selected Penn State forward Gavin McKenna with the No. 1 overall pick they unexpectedly won in the draft lottery a month earlier. The Sharks were then eager to select Stenberg with the No. 2 pick they also won in the lottery.
“I had met with (the Leafs) during the year, but I don’t know,” Stenberg said. “They wanted another guy, and I accept that. But I’m super happy I’m with the Sharks.”
Stenberg and McKenna, the slick 18-year-old winger, will face each other as NHL players for the first time on Monday when the Sharks play the Leafs at Scotiabank Arena to continue a six-game road trip. They also met in a World Junior Championship pre-tournament game last December.
Stenberg was behind McKenna in most 2026 draft prospect rankings, so it came as no surprise to see the Leafs take the Yukon-born forward, who was considered the best offensive talent available. Based on his conversations with members of Toronto’s front office, Stenberg also saw it coming.
“You kind of feel when a team wants you or not, or how interested they are,” Stenberg said. “You get a feeling, and I think that feeling was pretty (accurate).”
Stenberg, now 19, has fit right in with the Sharks and is tied for second in rookie scoring in the NHL with six points in seven games. McKenna, despite some recent drama involving Leafs coach Jim Hiller, is right behind with five points in nine games.
“I met him at the combine and at the draft,” Stenberg said of McKenna. “He’s a good guy, really good on the ice, too.”
Both the Sharks and Leafs have shown at times this season why they were both in last season’s draft lottery.
The Sharks (4-3-1) are off to a decent start but have blown a two-goal lead in the third period four times in eight games, including Saturday, when they lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Detroit Red Wings.
The Sharks built a 3-1 lead by the 2:48 mark of the third period when Stenberg scored on the power play off assists from Alexander Wennberg and Macklin Celebini for his second goal of the season.
Stenberg, moved to the first power-play unit last week, also assisted on Dmitry Orlov’s first-period goal with the man advantage, as the Swedish forward recorded the second multi-point game of his NHL career.
But in a troubling pattern, the Sharks once again simply couldn’t hold a lead, allowing an even-strength goal to Red Wings forward Emmitt Finnie at the 5:00 mark of the third period before Alex DeBrincat, with an extra attacker on the ice, tied the game 3-3 with 1:33 left in regulation.
Orlov took the loss on his shoulders after he failed to check Finnie, who got behind him, or block Michael Brandsegg-Nygard’s pass to Finnie on a Red Wings rush chance for a tap-in goal.
“We probably lost that game because of me,” Orlov said Saturday. “The puck was rolling, and I wasn’t sure if I should touch it or not — it can go anywhere off my stick. I needed to be closer to him and not even give him a chance at the puck.”
Still, Stenberg and the Sharks couldn’t convert on a power play in overtime, and he, Celebrini, and Will Smith were unable to beat Wings goalie John Gibson on their shootout attempts. Lucas Raymond beat Sharks goalie Alex Nedeljkovic for Detroit’s only goal.
“We had chances, but there were a couple rolling pucks and a couple missed shots that we would really like back,” Celebrini said of the overtime power play. “That was true throughout the game. We didn’t finish chances.”
Including their 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday, the Leafs have won just one of their last five games and are now dealing with injuries to forward John Tavares and defenseman Chris Tanev.
Against the Islanders, McKenna had four shots on net and was a minus-2, with a career-high 17:56 in ice time. Two days earlier, McKenna had just 6:36 in ice time as he sat the final 32:54 in the Leafs’ 5-4 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
“I can’t say it’s ever happened (to me before),” McKenna said Friday of being benched, “so that was a first.”
Stenberg is also experiencing many firsts as he competes against players he grew up admiring.
When the Sharks played the Edmonton Oilers last Saturday at SAP Center, Stenberg, then on the wing with Wennberg, the Sharks’ top shutdown centerman, matched up a lot against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who have four Hart Trophies between them, during 5-on-5 play.
“It still feels unrealistic,” Stenberg said. “Somebody at home (in Sweden) texted me and was like, ‘How was it?’ I was like, “Yeah, it was a fun game, but when you’re out and trying to win hockey games, you don’t think about it too much. But when you see McDavid come with his speed, it’s pretty cool to see.
“But that stuff is becoming more normal, like every day, especially when you see guys in this room.”
Stenberg feels he’s in the spot he’s supposed to be.
“I like all the guys, young team,” Stenberg said. “Even if it’s hard speaking English, I still believe that in some months we’re going to have a lot of fun. A good team on the way up, getting better every year, and we have some really good players here.”
