Top 2026 NHL Draft prospect Ivar Stenberg ready to put exclamation point on season at U18s

FRISCO, Texas – Ivar Stenberg took a second and flashed a wide smile while thinking about the past two weeks. 

“Been pretty tired, really,” Stenberg said. “But that's good sometimes.”

Stenberg, a 17-year-old and one of the top prospects for the 2026 NHL Draft, has played eight games in the past 14 days. Four in the SHL playoffs with Frölunda, then hopped on a flight from Stockholm to Dallas for the 2025 Under-18 World Championships here in Texas, appeared in two pre-tournament games and then was part of a dominant Swedish attack in their tournament-opening win against Switzerland on Wednesday. 

Stenberg called it a whirlwind and “great way” to end a season, which has seen the Swedish forward move from dominating to under-20 competition to the top men's league, and locking in a contract for ne