DALLAS - The San Jose Sharks may be sliding toward another season defined more by growth than results, but there was at least one encouraging sign in Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Dallas Stars: Ivar Stenberg looked better.
That doesn’t change the bigger picture. San Jose has now dropped seven of its last eight, and as of Nov. 7 sits six points behind the final wild card spot in the Western Conference. The calendar is still young, but the familiar warning sign is there - about 75 percent of the time, if a team isn’t in a playoff position by Thanksgiving, it doesn’t get there.
And if this does become another development year for the Sharks, the questions around the organization will only grow louder. GM Mike Grier and head coach Ryan Warsofsky have already committed over $140 million this calendar year to veterans Darnell Nurse, Jacob Trouba, Michael Kesselring, Mason Marchment, and Kiefer Sherwood.
Still, even in a frustrating loss, development can show up in small, useful ways. For Stenberg, the 2026 No. 2 pick, that happened at 5-on-5.
Per Stathletes, the 19-year-old showed real flashes in his rookie season, something that has not come easily for him at even strength. That’s not exactly shocking for a player his age, but Saturday brought a few signs that he’s starting to find his footing. Warsofsky noticed.
“I thought Stenny was really good tonight,” Warsofsky said.
Stenberg led Sharks forwards with seven 5-on-5 shot attempts, topping his previous high of four, which he set on Oct. 27 against the Buffalo Sabres. Before Saturday, he had averaged just 1.56 5-on-5 shots per game, which ranked 12th among San Jose’s 15 forwards.
The shot is part of the appeal. Stenberg has already shown he can finish, and the hope is that more attempts will follow as his game grows. A player can’t become a true NHL threat if he isn’t dangerous as both a shooter and a passer.
He’s also been learning the harder parts of the job. Winning puck battles, forcing turnovers, and protecting the puck at 5-on-5 have been problems so far, but that’s a normal part of the climb for a 19-year-old rookie. Against Dallas, he took a step.
On one third-period sequence, Stenberg won the puck, kicked it ahead, and forced Justin Hryckowian to take him down, drawing a late power play and giving the Sharks a chance to tie the game. He was credited with three puck battles on the night and won one of them, which still counts as progress. His last recorded puck battle attempt before Saturday came five games earlier, on Oct. 29 against the Vancouver Canucks.
He’s not supposed to play like Kiefer Sherwood, who lives in those 50-50 moments. Sherwood is averaging 3.53 5-on-5 puck battles per game, fifth among NHL forwards, and wins about 57 percent of them. Stenberg doesn’t need to copy that style, but he does need to show he won’t shy away from contact.
That balance matters. Going into a battle you know you’ll lose can leave you behind the play or cough up the puck in the wrong spot.
But avoiding contact altogether is its own problem. Stenberg wasn’t drafted to be only a finesse player, so the expectation is that he eventually becomes credible, maybe even elite, in puck protection, puck battles, and turnover creation.
He also wasn’t perfect against Dallas. Late in the game, with the Sharks needing to get the puck deep so they could change after a long defensive shift, Stenberg made the wrong play.
The Stars were backing off, but his soft dump-in was batted forward by Esa Lindell. As San Jose changed in disarray, Darnell Nurse touched the advancing puck - whether by instinct or because he knew Dallas players were nearby - and that led to a too many men on the ice penalty.
On the resulting power play, Thomas Harley scored the winner.
That doesn’t erase the Sharks’ penalty kill, which was poor and gave up three goals. But Stenberg still handed Dallas a gift.
Even so, Warsofsky’s trust in him was clear. Stenberg logged 19:02, his highest total since he played 20:22 on Oct. 27.
If this season turns into another one focused on development, the Sharks at least have one positive to point to. Stenberg is moving forward.
“It’s part of developing these young men to play in this league for a long time, and they’re going to make mistakes. This is a game of mistakes,” Warsofsky said.
“They’re trying to do the right things. The intention is right.
The execution wasn’t great, so we have to learn from it, just like everyone else in our team. We got to continue to learn and get better individually and collectively.”
In Other News...
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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 🡒]
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Islanders Victor Eklund Was At The Center Of A Heated NHL Debate
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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 🡒]