As Ivar Stenberg begins his Sharks career, his ex-coach notes one area where he needs to improve

SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks prospect Ivar Stenberg spent a lot of time training and skating this summer with his older brother Otto, a forward in the St. Louis Blues organization, to help prepare for his first season as a professional in North America.

The family dream, of course, would be to see the two Stenberg brothers competing against each other on Oct. 8 when the Sharks visit St. Louis to cap a quick two-game road trip.

But while older brother Otto, 21, likely has some work to do to crack the Blues’ improved roster this month, it seems safe to assume Ivar will be with the Sharks, taking his place as the team’s next promising young forward.

“He beats people one-on-one. He can create time and space with deception, and he can finish,” Barracuda coach John McCarthy said of Stenberg after watching him practice at Sharks Ice. “He’s got a lot of upside.”

The Sharks certainly believe so.

Stenberg, drafted second overall by the Sharks in June, was in a Sharks uniform Saturday when several of the team’s top young players faced the Los Angeles Kings’ prospects in the first game of the Rookie Faceoff at Tech CU Arena.

Stenberg, who turns 19 on Sept. 30, skated with fellow winger Igor Chernyshov and center Michael Misa against the Kings, giving Sharks fans a tantalizing look at what could be a dangerous combination for years to come, perhaps as soon as Oct. 1 when San Jose hosts the Florida Panthers.

“We want them to make plays when there’s plays to be made,” McCarthy said of the line. “They’re a talented group, and we’re looking for them to do that.”

“Just play hockey and have fun,” Stenberg said of his expectations for the game. “Just learning the system and stuff like that. Just play the game.”

There are a few reasons why Stenberg looks ready for the NHL.

Obviously, there is the skill set, with his passing, stickhandling, shot, compete, and hockey sense already considered to be at an NHL level. Although he’s not a big player at 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds, he spent last season in the Swedish Hockey League and didn’t look out of place against much older players, showing his compete and determination to get on the inside and win puck battles.

He had 33 points in 43 regular season games for Frolunda, the fifth-highest total by a player 18 years old or younger in SHL history. The last 18-year-old players to put up such numbers were Hockey Hall of Famers Daniel and Henrik Sedin in 1998-99. He also helped Sweden win a gold medal at the World Junior Championships in January.

“Besides his technical skills, Ivar’s (hockey sense) is extremely good,” Frolunda coach Robert Ohlsson wrote about Stenberg in an email to Bay Area News Group. “He sees the ice well, sets up plays, and makes the right decisions. His play without the puck is also good, which makes him a two-way player.

“The balance he has in the physical game and his ability to change tempo and rhythm also sticks out.”

Sharks center Macklin Celebrini captained Canada at the World Championships in May and competed against Stenberg, who had four goals and eight points in eight games for Sweden.

“He’s a heck of a player,” Celebrini said recently. “It was really fun to watch him over there and play against him. I know we’re all really excited to play with him.”

If there was one small critique Ohlsson had of Stenberg, it was that it sometimes took him a while to get going in games. With the advent of shorter NHL training camps, going from three weeks to roughly two, Ohlsson wants to see Stenberg perform at top speed right from the start.

”The Sharks (have) a thrilling roster. Ivar has to play his best hockey and make the most of it from the start,” Ohlsson wrote. “I believe he has to prove himself (during) the camps and start the early games (in a convincing fashion). Sometimes it took half a match for him to show his ‘A’ game.”

What Stenberg’s role will be once the regular season begins, assuming he makes the Sharks’ 23-man roster out of camp, remains in question.

There’s a chance he could start camp next week on the top line with Celebrini and Will Smith. Or he could take William Eklund’s former spot alongside center Alexander Wennberg and winger Kiefer Sherwood.

But with the signing of Mason Marchment, who has averaged 19 goals per season over the last five years, the Sharks have a deeper group of wingers now than at any time in the last five or six seasons, leaving it a mystery as to where Stenberg, Marchment, Chernyshov, Sherwood, Collin Graf and Tyler Toffoli all fit in.

Stenberg is not trying to worry about all that right now. He said Otto just told him, “To do my best. Go into camp and just have fun, work hard, and (believe) that it’s going to be good.”

As for playing against Otto next month, Ivar didn’t want to think too far ahead.

“That would be pretty fun, pretty unreal,” he said. “If that happens, it’s going to be special. But we’ll see what happens.”

INJURY UPDATES

Defenseman Mattias Havelid, who spent all of last season with the Barracuda, has an upper body injury and will not play this weekend. Fellow Swedish-born defenseman Leo Sahlin-Wallenius remains day-to-day with a lower-body issue. It was unclear if either would be available for the start of main training camp on Thursday.