The profile I composed on Viggo Björck earlier this year remains one of my most enduring and popular articles I have published on this site. It will likely eventually have a followup to provide updates on Björck’s progress, since it has remained so relevant. In the meantime, I have found it increasingly appropriate to provide something of a companion piece to that article by covering the path taken by another Swedish member of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft class. This player’s progress and arc have been nothing short of remarkable and he has demonstrated his impressive tournament form was not just an apparition. Without further ado, let’s take a deep dive into the young Swede’s seemingly rapid development and how he got to this point.

Ivar Stenberg was born on September 30th, 2007 in Stenungsund, Sweden into quite a hockey family. As you’ll notice on his EP, his elder brother is 2023 St. Louis Blues draft selection Otto Stenberg. Despite the strong family tradition and Otto’s own success, it should be noted that Ivar does not pattern his game after Otto, as he perceives the two of them to have different strengths. Walking down his own path, however, seems to have brought the younger Stenberg to great heights.

Stenberg’s youth career saw him climb through the ranks in his hometown HC Stenungsund HF’s pipeline. In his age 14 season, he made the jump to a larger, bigger name system at Frölunda HC in Gothenburg. In his first season with the club at the U16 Region level, he registered 32 points (11g+21a) in 21 games played, as well as 5 goals and 1 assist in the U16-SM championship. In 2022-23, Stenberg tallied 9 goals and 23 assists in 12 games at the U16 Region level, 6 goals and 11 assists in 12 J18 Region games, and 8 points in 14 J18 Nationell level appearances.

This past season, Stenberg played in the J18 Region, J18 Nationell, and J20 Nationell for Frölunda. In the former two brackets, he respectively posted 5g-27a-32p and a +16 in 18 games played and an even better PPG of 18g-12a-30p and a +17 in 13 games played. His taste of the J20 Nationell was his very first, and within it, he put up 3g-5a-8p in 9 games, which is remarkable for a 16-year-old. In this current campaign, he started off in the J18 Region, in which he registered 7 points in 2 games before quickly being called up to the J20 Nationell again. He tallied 13 goals and 15 assists and a +14 in 12 appearances before earning his first SHL call-up.

I would be remiss if I did not cite Stenberg’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup run back in the summertime, in which he was a phenomenal member of a dominant line as I covered fairly extensively. This was a manner in which he did follow Otto’s lead, as he had a dominant performance of his own en route to a silver medal in 2022 as mentioned in the earlier linked article. Ivar had 4 goals and 6 assists in 5 games played at this edition of the Hlinka as Sweden came home with the bronze medal. He was, in my eyes, the driver of his line and utilized his exceptional vision and passing to be one of the most prolific players at a tournament filled with star power. Occasionally, a dominant Hlinka performance can be a non-factor in dictating the future fate of a prospect (see: Vasily Podkolzin). However, Stenberg has been like this for a long time, and many of the strengths that he exhibited in this tournament are still on display in his subsequent trajectory. His playmaking capabilities, smarts, and play driving ability have been key to him moving onward and upward. He possesses a remarkable game between his ears and the skills to match. It may take him some reps to adjust to the demands of the SHL, but there is plenty of time. If he continues down this path for the remainder of his D-1 and through his DY, we are looking at a potential top five pick in 2026.