Sharks Hit Grand Slam With 2026 First Round Picks

BUFFALO — The San Jose Sharks are the runaway winners of the 2026 NHL Draft first round, and it isn’t close.

With three picks in the first round, picks 2, 9, and 21, the Sharks set themselves up for long-term success with a potential for immediate impact. The superstar pick of the draft is No. 2 overall, Ivar Stenberg. Sharks GM Mike Grier told reporters that he was the number one player on their board, and they never wavered from picking him.

“He was the number one player on our board,” Grier said. “Competitive skill is not an easy thing to find, and he has it. He competes on both sides of the puck, plays a good 200-foot game, wins a lot of puck battles, and one of the most important things he has is that when the game’s on the line, and it’s a big moment, he wants the puck. He wants to be the guy to make the difference and make the play. He’s got some rare traits, and we think he’s a really good fit with our group. We’re excited to get him.”

Stenberg has played against men in Sweden with Frolunda and feels he’s ready to join the NHL next season,

“I think just work on everything. Train with good guys, good coaches, and try to prepare me as well as I can,” Stenberg said.

Their next pick could turn into an absolute steal of the NHL Draft. Defenseman Keaton Verhoeff was rated as the No. 2 player in the draft at one point, but fell to the San Jose Sharks at No. 9. Yes, his footspeed needs to improve, but the other attributes of the young d-man scream elite offensive defenseman.

“He’s someone who [has had] a lot of spotlight on him. Heading into the draft year, he was in the top two or three; some people even had him at one to start the year,” Grier said. “We’ve seen him a lot. You’ve got to give him a lot of credit for taking the challenge to go to college. He could have stayed in the Western League, and you know, put up a ton of points and scored a ton of goals, but he wanted to challenge himself and push his development.”

Their final move of the night was to jump back up to the 21st overall pick, up from No. 27, to draft Ryan Lin. Lin has tremendous offensive skills, with room for growth. Although he’s not the biggest player, 5-foot-11, to the San Jose Sharks, that doesn’t matter.

“Big fan of his. Really good player, and when we had 20, he was someone we were hoping might fall there. Then you know we were going through scenarios at 20, what we would have to do to move up to try and get him, so we just felt the value of getting him at 21 was pretty high,” Grier said. “He’s another high character kid, really good defender, smart, competitive, and I think he’s a really good player.”

The San Jose Sharks walk away from the first night in Buffalo with heads held high. Viewed as winners of the draft by many experts, the future of the team appears to be brighter than before.