The San Jose Sharks have spent most of this season buried near the bottom of the league, and the noise around the roster and coaching staff has only gotten louder. They finally snapped a five-game losing streak on Monday night, and the biggest reason was the same player who has been giving this team a pulse all season: rookie Ivar Stenberg.
Stenberg tied the game in regulation against the New York Islanders, then scored the lone goal in an eight-round shootout to finish off the win. For a 19-year-old taken second overall in June, it was another sharp reminder that he has done more than simply hold his own after jumping from the Swedish Hockey League to the NHL. He has thrived.
Through 20 games, Stenberg has six goals and six assists, a total that has kept him near the top of the rookie scoring race. That kind of production from a teenager on one of the league’s worst teams is no small thing, and it has pushed him into the Calder Trophy conversation as a real contender.
What makes his start even more striking is the role he has already earned. Stenberg is skating on the top line with Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, a spot the Sharks do not hand out lightly.
When a team is struggling this badly, it does not put its prized rookie next to its franchise player unless it believes he belongs there. Mason Marchment has noticed too, saying Stenberg plays with a poise and confidence most young players simply do not have.
His biggest impact has come on the power play, where he has been a revelation from the start. Stenberg ranks in the 87th percentile among NHL power-play forwards in offensive-zone time, and that usage has turned into results. He leads all NHL rookies in power-play points, and both of his early goals came from high-danger areas around the net.
That has helped lift San Jose’s man advantage into the top ten in the NHL, a clear step up from last season’s middling performance. For a team that has struggled to create much at five-on-five, the power play has become a lifeline, and Stenberg is right at the center of it.
There are still obvious things for him to clean up. Most of his scoring has come with the extra man, and the next step is producing more at even strength.
Evaluators who have liked his game have still wanted more five-on-five output, and that is a fair ask. Defensively, he has taken his share of lumps as well, and his heavily negative rating reflects the learning curve of a rookie adjusting to the NHL game.
Even so, the numbers do not tell the whole story. Plus-minus can be a blunt instrument on a last-place team, and Stenberg’s skill, calm under pressure, and ability to find dangerous ice are exactly why San Jose drafted him.
The bigger picture around the Sharks is still ugly, and the rebuild is under a microscope. But Stenberg has become a legitimate reason to keep watching.
He is tracking toward a 60-point rookie season, and when he is at his best, the Sharks look better because of it. For a team searching for anything that feels stable, the second-overall pick has been the clearest sign that the plan still has life.
In Other News...
Sharks Finally Got A Win And Two Young Names Stand Out
The Sharks finally snapped a five-game skid with a 3-2 shootout win over the Islanders, and the night came with a couple of encouraging signs beyond the result. Tyler Toffoli scored in regulation, but it was Ivar Stenberg who kept San Jose in it with the tying goal, giving the building a jolt and helping push the game past regulation.
San Jose also got the kind of steadiness it has been searching for from Yaroslav Askarov, whose work gave the Sharks a chance to hang around through overtime and into the shootout. The Islanders had their own moments through Ben Hutton and Bo Horvat, but for a team trying to climb out of an early hole, this was the sort of win that can make a young roster feel a little more settled. [Read more 🡒]
Sharks Young Forwards Still Have To Earn This Key Late-Game Trust
The Sharks got a lift from Yaroslav Askarov in a 3-2 shootout win over the New York Islanders, and the rookie goalies night added another line to the franchise record book. By turning away every Islanders attempt in the tiebreaker, he surpassed the previous mark of seven shootout saves without allowing a goal, a reminder of how much San Jose has leaned on his calm in pressure moments.
Ryan Warsofsky also made clear the decision-making behind the shootout was anything but casual. The order was shaped by analytics and the coaching staffs pre-scouting work, part of the same careful approach San Jose is using as it sorts out which young forwards can be trusted when games tighten late and every possession starts to matter a little more. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Victor Eklund Was At The Center Of A Heated NHL Debate
A chippy sequence in San Jose drew the kind of attention that tends to linger after the final horn, as the NHL Department of Player Safety handed Sharks forward Mason Marchment a fine for roughing Islanders forward Victor Eklund. The incident grew out of a hard hit on a Sharks player, then escalated quickly when Marchment stepped in with a shove and punch that left officials sorting out the aftermath with two minor penalties.
For the Sharks, it is another reminder of how fast a routine shift can turn into a league review when emotions spill over. The money from the fine goes to the NHL Players Emergency Assistance Fund, but the broader issue is the one San Jose has been dealing with all season in these heated moments: protecting teammates without giving the league a reason to keep looking back at the play. [Read more 🡒]