2026 NHL Draft: We won #2! Reid or Stenberg for the win; taking Verhoeff is a drafting sin!

[Juxtaposer]

Scouching and others have said Stenberg “plays” the wing like how Celebrini played his draft year.

Basically this overall solid game. Does everything well but maybe nothing “pops” as elite. His elite-ness is because he is just good at everything.

Scouching also mentioned in his video Stenberg’s ceiling is not Celebrini… it’s just more of a way to frame the understanding of why Stenberg is viewed highly without being 6’-3” with show stopping talent.

You can say “overall solid game” without making a ludicrous comparison to a 19 year old two-way center who just scored 115 points.

 

[SJS1991]

You can say “overall solid game” without making a ludicrous comparison to a 19 year old two-way center who just scored 115 points.

Agreed… even when people said Crosby lite for Celebrini his draft year, I was like… let the kid play a shift in the nhl first.

It’s why I think most went the Toews, Bergeron route.

My point was just to say there are public scouts that are talking about style of play between Stenberg and Celebrini. That’s where these things are coming from.

 

[Bizz]

Stenberg is clearly the Sidney Crosby of Connor McDavids.*


(*only if we draft him. if not he's a verified bust)

 

[Palaeontologists]

I stopped over there briefly to see what the discussions about 4th overall looked like and man. They literally have spent four pages over the last 24 hours exclusively talking about the Sharks. They have a derogatory nickname for Grier. It’s getting borderline psycho.

Man, some of you guys just love to make shit up to have a laugh.

 

[zombie kopitar]

My point was just to say there are public scouts that are talking about style of play between Stenberg and Celebrini. That’s where these things are coming from.

Exactly, I'm not sure why everyone is getting so damn hyperbolic for me saying Macklin-esque, I was not implying that he will be as good, just that they play a very similar style. And seeing almost the exact language used in draft analysis, like 'he's just good at everything but isn't elite in one specific area, he just plays hockey the right way at a high level'.

It personally makes me think he's going to jump right in, and before long everyone's just going to be saying 'what was everyone missing with this kid', like with Mack. So that's what I meant, cheese and rice

 

[Juxtaposer]

Man, some of you guys just love to make shit up to have a laugh.

Are you illiterate or are you actually accusing me of lying?

 

[Palaeontologists]

Are you illiterate or are you actually accusing me of lying?

I mean I went through their thread and it didn't seem that psychotic to me. At least comparable to the level of psychosis on this board when debating Reid vs Stenberg.

 

[TheBeard]

I mean I went through their thread and it didn't seem that psychotic to me. At least comparable to the level of psychosis on this board when debating Reid vs Stenberg.

Would you say we've become... master debaters?

 

[LilLeeroy]

You can say “overall solid game” without making a ludicrous comparison to a 19 year old two-way center who just scored 115 points.

“I still think Celebrini will be the right pick for whoever gets 1st overall. I see him as more of a Nico Hischier type of first overall pick than a Jack Hughes, and that’s fine. Getting an average #1C at 1st overall is a pretty good outcome, and Celebrini would complement Smith pretty well.”

That’s how you described him in his draft year?

Edit: Another one
“
I think Celebrini is a little more dynamic with the puck but doesn’t quite have the skating of Beniers. But overall, I think they’re comparable.

Recall that the Sharks had Beniers ranked first overall in 2021 (and Eklund 2nd).”

 

[Juxtaposer]

I mean I went through their thread and it didn't seem that psychotic to me. At least comparable to the level of psychosis on this board when debating Reid vs Stenberg.

If you want to use the literal clinical definition of “psychotic”, then sure. I thought it went unsaid that my use of the word was colloquial.

 

[SJS1991]

I mean I went through their thread and it didn't seem that psychotic to me. At least comparable to the level of psychosis on this board when debating Reid vs Stenberg.

It’s why I’m over here just spreading the good word on Verhoeff. He isn’t the pick we deserve, but he is the pick we need.

 

[SoCalSharkzFan]

Then shouldn't he go 1st overall, what am I missing?

A lof of people are saying he should go #1 overall. He had stretches during the year where he leapfrogged McKenna, but after that 8 point game McKenna had, it was enough to push him ahead.

 

[SoCalSharkzFan]

You can say “overall solid game” without making a ludicrous comparison to a 19 year old two-way center who just scored 115 points.

Were you offended on Crosby's behalf when they compared Celebrini to him pre-draft?

 

[ThorNton Apologist]

A lof of people are saying he should go #1 overall. He had stretches during the year where he leapfrogged McKenna, but after that 8 point game McKenna had, it was enough to push him ahead.

If SJ had won 1st overall instead of 2nd, Stenberg would still be the guy I hope they’d pick

 

[Surfer Dude]

I mean I went through their thread and it didn't seem that psychotic to me. At least comparable to the level of psychosis on this board when debating Reid vs Stenberg.

they call Grier = GBG? i don't know what that means. Is that derogatory for Jux? idk.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Were you offended on Crosby's behalf when they compared Celebrini to him pre-draft?

I wouldn’t say offended because I don’t care about Crosby, but I absolutely pushed back on it, yes.

 

[CupfortheSharks]

they call Grier = GBG? i don't know what that means. Is that derogatory for Jux? idk.

Galaxy Brain Grier. They are hoping he over thinks the pick. I’ve been lurking there a bit because I think we are good trade partners. They are pretty much split between two groups. 1: Stay at 4 and hope Stenberg falls to them. This group is mostly content draft a defenseman if that’s how it falls. 2: Trade with us and take Stenberg. Consensus there is adding two seconds rounders to 4OA should get it done.

 

[Palaeontologists]

Galaxy Brain Grier. They are hoping he over thinks the pick. I’ve been lurking there a bit because I think we are good trade partners. They are pretty much split between two groups. 1: Stay at 4 and hope Stenberg falls to them. This group is mostly content draft a defenseman if that’s how it falls. 2: Trade with us and take Stenberg. Consensus there is adding two seconds rounders to 4OA should get it done.

If "Galaxy Brain" is degroratory then "smurf" is a hate crime lol

 

[timorous me]

If "Galaxy Brain" is degroratory then "smurf" is a hate crime lol

I don't know if I'd say that's derogatory, but it is completely absurd because if anything, Grier has been about as non-galaxy brained as any GM I've seen in any sport in a long time—enough that a couple weeks ago, when complimenting him and his work, I specifically said that about him.

And here we go again with the Kesselring trade—about the most logical move you could expect from him and for the Sharks at this moment in time. So whatever they think would be a galaxy brained move, I'd suggest they temper their expectations, to say the least.

 

[Patty Ice]

I didn't see anything derogatory but maybe it was subtle that I missed?

 

[vortexx]

New video out from HockeyProspect explaining their differences in HP rankings versus what you can see online. They like to remind people there is no consensus especially in this draft class and in the video they first discuss Lawrence, Command (both are just outside their top 32), then talk about Pugachyov, Shcherbakov (both are very high on their list at #11 and #14), and end with Shilov, Nordmark, and Preston (who they are not high on).

Pugachyov and Shcherbakov are two players that could be available for us at pick #27. Pugachyov profiles like a "Russian Tom Wilson", kid is a freight train and freak athlete that lays the body like no one else. They feel he has top 6 upside and will thrive in a playoff hockey atmosphere. Many see him as a depth option but they state he has better hands and playmaking rates than Lawrence, also in a 200 shot sample he hit more posts than any other prospect they did the same test for which could speak to his poor puck luck possibly masking his scoring potential. They feel like he has a unicorn type profile that NHL teams will covet.

For Shcherbakov they believe he looks more like 6'4/6'5 instead of the 6'3 that is posted, we should find out the measurements at the Dan Milstein Russian camp. They were big fans of Simashev and watched him very closely in his draft year (ranked him #5), and they see some overlap with him with the size, frame, skating and there were some MHL games where Shcherbakov looked more impressive than Simashev did in his draft year. High end skater that is not physically mature at all. He has good hands, better shot and passer and shows more secondary offense than Simashev but not as physically mean and not as good of a defender. They liked what they saw in the MHL games and would project him top 10, but the VHL games is where things got murky and they lowered the ranking a bit. They do believe he is smarter than Smits even offensively speaking showing quite a bit of interesting base instincts that can be molded correctly, they do not think Smits is an offensively intelligent player.

 

[sampler]

Why is it so ludicrous to think Stenberg might be at or near Celebrini's league?

1. Celebrini was not supposed to be in Celebrini's league. Bedard was far higher touted. Celebrini was expected to be a good player, but not generational. Something closer to a superior Fantilli. He has blown away all expectations.

2 His SHL performance puts him in the category with naslund and the Sedins. So, if he is as good as Henrik Sedin, that's pretty damn impressive and close to celebrini level too.

3. He is by far the most proven guy at the top of the draft, having ample showings against men while dominating his peers at world juniors as likely the best player in that tournament.

4. Many experts have him at #1 and likely only have Mckenna above im because of a few huge games that padded his stats and the hype around mckenna starting years ago.

I would not be surprised to see Stenberg surpass 100 points in his career.

Reid, on the other hand has a very wide range of possibilities, and is very unproven and unknown. If he had a year in college, like Voerhoff, and dominated I would feel far more comfy taking him at #2. But, against kids, he was very good, but not dominant. The risk associated with taking him above consensus at 2 is huge. Taking him at 4 after acquirng some assets to moe down makes that risk far more palatable.

However, the kesselring trade (and proposed other deals) show that adding RHD in trade is very possible, and if Grier does well, he can fill out a high quality D without Reid. Carolina just won a cup without a single Dman picked in the top 20. The highest picked Dman they had was Miller who they got in trade. They had no single Dman picked by Carolina earlier than the 3rd round. The Knights also did have have a single one of thier own first round picks on D (hanifin was 5th OA but they got him in trade+Sign).

Grier can draft Stenberg and build a similar blueline to the two finals teams.

 

[Star Platinum]

His puck protection is.

In the little I've watched him, I'd say his puck protection and his relentlessness of trying to get to the middle of the ice are his two best attributes.

 

[Star Platinum]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7365909/2026/06/18/nhl-mock-draft-2026-seven-rounds/?source=user_shared_article&unlocked_article_code=1.rFA.lXd2.89rYaJ0x_LSA

Stenberg. A majority of Pronman’s sources are convinced it will be Stenberg at 2OA.

I think the Sharks like both Chase Reid and Ivar Stenberg a lot, and they have interest in some other defensemen. I don't know which way they are going to go, as Mike Grier has done a great job keeping information closed off in recent years. A majority of my league sources think it's Stenberg over Reid, but I've been convinced through this process that if the evaluation is close, San Jose will take the defenseman.

Figured the actual accurate quote needed to be here, absent any need of people to color their preferences with their summation.

 

[Juxtaposer]

If "Galaxy Brain" is degroratory then "smurf" is a hate crime lol

1) You do know the definition of “derogatory”, right?

2) If someone in the real world called you smurf you are actually entitled to hit them. It’s just the keyboard warriors in here that like to user slurs and defend rapists because they think it makes them edgy that throw around “smurf” genuinely.