{"id":471893,"date":"2026-09-22T11:56:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T11:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/471893\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T11:56:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T11:56:30","slug":"graf-impressed-with-stenberg-early-in-sharks-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/471893\/","title":{"rendered":"Graf Impressed With Stenberg Early In Sharks Camp"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many standouts have emerged at San Jose Sharks training camp so far, but 2026 NHL Draft<\/a> No. 2 overall pick Ivar Stenberg<\/a> has caught his linemate\u2019s eye.<\/p>\n

Collin Graf<\/a> broke out during the 25-26 season, scoring 21 goals. Viewed as one of the Sharks\u2019 smartest players, the winger is now starting on a line with Stenberg and fellow Swede Alexander Wennberg<\/a>. Wenneberg is mentoring the 18-year-old Stenberg, but Graf is a perfect addition to complete the line. <\/p>\n

\u201c[Stenberg\u2019s] really good. They\u2019re talking in Swedish a lot, so I have no idea what they\u2019re saying, but hopefully it\u2019s good things,\u201d Graf said on Friday. \u201cAs you said, all smart guys, and I think it\u2019s been good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graf will play a prominent role this season for the Sharks at 5-on-5 and on the PK. The Sharks hope Stenberg\u2019s adjustment to the NHL will be easier, given his experience against men in Sweden. Graf told reporters that the 18-year-old\u2019s hockey brain is already top-notch.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis decision-making. He thinks at an NHL level [and] he keeps up with the pace mentally,\u201d Graf said of the rookie.<\/p>\n

The Stenberg-Wennberg-Graf line might be one of the smartest lines in the NHL this season if they stick together. The #SJSharks<\/a> put all their best minds on one line, which I like.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) September 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

All signs point to the San Jose Sharks deploying Stenberg regularly this season. Head coach Ryan Warsfosky<\/a> noted that every young player is on their own plan, but didn\u2019t indicate that Stenberg could be eased into his rookie year like Will Smith<\/a> was. <\/p>\n

\u201cHis skill came out [during the scrimmage]. But for me, it was his smarts. His hockey sense is really good. Sees the ice really well, but picking up our systems quickly,\u201d Warsofsky said on Friday. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to work on the English a little bit, and he\u2019s starting to understand it. Wenny\u2019s helped him. You show a clip, and then 10 minutes out there, he\u2019s out there practicing it, and he\u2019s picked it up really well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lineups for Sunday\u2019s preseason game are unknown<\/a>, but it could be the first chance to deploy the Stenberg-Wennberg-Graf line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many standouts have emerged at San Jose Sharks training camp so far, but 2026 NHL Draft No. 2…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[106081,2094,3524,75543,1036,88,90,89,98,11966,755],"class_list":["post-471893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-2026-nhl-draft","tag-alexander-wennberg","tag-collin-graf","tag-ivar-stenberg","tag-ryan-warsofsky","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-san-jose-sharks","tag-sharks-prospects","tag-sj-sharks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}