BUFFALO. Sorry, Toronto Maple Leafs.
Now you made a mistake again.
But Ivar Stenberg has every reason to celebrate after last night’s Swedish record draft in Buffalo.
He will swim with sharks as deadly as the monster in Steven Spielberg’s film classic about the sea’s most feared predator.
As Friday night’s twilight began to fall and the lights in packed Keybank Center dimmed for the opening of the 2026 NHL draft, rumors still swirled that Mats Sundin and the other new Toronto bosses would defy Canadian expectations — not to mention demands — and use their projected first-round pick to draft Ivar Stenberg instead of Gavin McKenna.
But no. It was just as expected that the red and white favorite, special guest presenter Justin Bieber – Maple Leafs fan to the core – called up to the stage first of all.
Not exactly a scandal seen even through my blue-yellow lenses, McKenna has long been regarded as the given number one of this draft litter and will surely be great no matter what.
But not as good as Ivar Stenberg…
Photo: TIMOTHY T. LUDWIG / USA Today Sports
Toronto will grimace
However, the brilliant Frölunda winger from Stenungsund has no reason whatsoever to be depressed that he did not become the third Swedish draft pick in history after Mats Sundin (1989) and Rasmus Dahlin (2018).
Because instead, the San Jose Sharks made sure to pick him with their second pick and in the next few years it will be much more fun to play for the Sharks than for the Leafs, the NHL’s constant drama queen.
Led by the incredible Macklin Celebrini, the Sharks have de facto one of the most exciting teams in the entire team and with Ivar on Celebrini’s side – which is the idea – most people see a given contender for many, many years to come.
It would be surprising if they don’t break a seven-year playoff drought already this coming season – and in a few more years it will probably be a shark as deadly as the one in the Steven Spielberg classic “Jaws” that rules Silicon Valley.
Then they will be sitting in Toronto grimacing with regret…
I also suspect that those who had the chance to pinch Viggo Björck before the Winnipeg Jets did with their eighth pick will regret it – mainly the Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers, Calgary Flames and Seattle Kraken.
Viggo was undoubtedly the smartest center in the night’s line-up of talents, but North American prejudices about small players were again mixed into the equation and therefore those of us who usually go to hockey in New York, for example, are deprived of an attraction the mediocre Rangers would have greatly benefited from.
The future is bright
Otherwise, we can state that it was a really successful Swedish first round that rolled through the warm Buffalo night..
A total of seven young talents from the kingdom were picked in the first round – in addition to Stenlund and Björck, also Alexander Command of New Jersey at number 12, Malte Gustafsson of the NY Islanders at number 13, Elton Hermansson of the LA Kings at number 19, the giant Jonas Lagerberg Hoen of the Ottawa Senators at number 25 and Marcus Nordmark of the Anaheim Ducks at number 28 – and it is nothing short of a Swedish record, set in 2009 (when Victor Hedman, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Magnus Pääjärvi, David Rundblad, Jacob Josefson, Tim Erixon and Marcus Johansson were all drafted on opening night at the Bell Center in Montreal).
The future of Swedish hockey is clearly very bright.
EVERYONE WHO WAS PICKED IN THE FIRST ROUND TONIGHT
1. Gavin McKenna, b, – Toronto Maple Leafs
2. Ivar Stenberg, f – San Jose Sharks
3. Caleb Malhotra, c – Vancouver Canucks
4. Daxon Rudolph, b – Buffalo Sabres
5. Alberts Smits, b – NY Rangers
6. Carson Carels, b – Calgary Flames
7. Chase Reid, b—Seattle Kraken
8. Viggo Björck, c – Winnipeg Jets
9. Keaton Verhoeff, b – San Jose Sharks
10. Wyatt Cullen, b – Nashville Predators
11. Tynan Lawrence, c – St. Louis Blues
12. Alexander Command, f – New Jersey Devils
13. Malte Gustafsson, b – NY Islanders
14. Oscar Hemming, f – Columbus Blue Jackets
15. Nikita Klepov, f – Anaheim Ducks
16. Maddox Dagenais, c – St. Louis Blues
17. Ethan Belchetz, b – Utah Mammoth
18. Oliver Suvanto, c—Washington Capitals
19. Elton Hermansson, b – LA Kings
20. Ilia Morozov, c—Buffalo Sabres
21. Ryan Lin, b – San Jose Sharks
22. Liam Ruck, f – Pittsburgh Penguins
23. JP Hurlbert, b – Detroit Red Wings
24. Adam Novotny, f – Vancouver Canucks
25. Jonas Lagerberg Hoen, b – Ottawa Senators
26. Gleb Pugachyov, b – Montreal Canadiens
27. Maksim Sokolovsky, b – Philadelphia Flyers
28. Marcus Nordmark, f – Anaheim Ducks
29. Juho Piparinen, b – Vegas Golden Knights
30. Jack Hextall, f – Calgary Flames
31. Tommy Bleyl, b – Nashville Predator
32. Jaxon Cover, f – Ottawa Senators
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