Sharks Keep No. 2 Pick, Take Stenberg 2026

The San Jose Sharks jumped from the ninth-best lottery odds all the way to the No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft — and then GM Mike Grier did the thing he hinted he might not: he kept it. Within hours of the May 5 lottery he had opened the door publicly, "I'm always open to listening to what's out there," and for seven weeks the second pick was the most-discussed trade chip in hockey. On June 26, Grier hung up the phone and took Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg. We call it Grier's Open Phone: a GM who listened to everything, priced the market, and still picked.

A GM who is set on his pick says "we're focused on the player." A GM who is shopping it says what Grier said. In the end he did both — listened, then kept.

The Jump: 9th to 2nd

San Jose went into the May 5 lottery with the ninth-best odds of moving up. They came out with the No. 2 overall pick, a seven-spot leap that, per San Jose Hockey Now, surprised even the Sharks' front office. (For how the lottery and selection order are set, see our guide to how the NHL Draft works.) Toronto won the top draw on long odds the same night; San Jose won the second. We mapped the full board in our first-round results and the Leafs' end of it in the lottery-win analysis.

The leap mattered because it dropped a top-two asset into the lap of a team still early in a rebuild — exactly the kind of pick contenders covet and rebuilders can either keep or cash.

The Open Phone, and What It Signaled

Grier's post-lottery presser was where it got interesting. He did not say "we're drafting and developing." He left the door open.

"I'm always open to listening to what's out there. I was happy and excited. It was a good day for the organization." — Mike Grier, Sharks GM, post-lottery, via Daily Faceoff

In GM language that is a price-check, not a for-sale sign. A contender willing to mortgage its future plus a Sharks team willing to accelerate equals a deal — but only at the right number. For seven weeks the No. 2 pick was the league's most-discussed chip. The phone stayed open right up to the draft floor.

Why Grier Kept the Pick

Two things made keeping the pick the rational call. First, the player: Ivar Stenberg, who posted 33 points in 43 SHL games as an 18-year-old, was the clear best player available at No. 2 — a top-six winger with elite vision, and the consensus second name behind Gavin McKenna. Reaching past him for a defenseman to fill a need would have been the classic rebuild mistake.

Second, the cap. With roughly $24 million in space and only two defensemen signed, San Jose never had to trade a premium pick to fix its blue line — it could simply buy defensemen in free agency with cash. That is the quiet logic that closed the Open Phone: keep the pick for the ceiling, sign the defense with money. The trade math only worked if a contender offered a young, cost-controlled defenseman at sub-market term, and that window stayed narrow.

The Double-Up: Stenberg and Verhoeff

Then San Jose made the night even better. Holding a second first-round pick at No. 9 (acquired from Florida), the Sharks took defenseman Keaton Verhoeff — a top blue-line prospect who slid from the upper end of several boards. In one evening Grier added a franchise-caliber winger and the kind of defenseman other teams wanted him to trade up for, without giving up the No. 2 pick at all.

That is the Open Phone resolved in San Jose's favor: he listened to everyone, found no offer that beat keeping both picks, and walked away with Stenberg and Verhoeff. For where the Sharks go from here, the open market is on our 2026 free-agent board, and every move lands live on the trade tracker. How McKenna and Stenberg stack as the class's top two lives in the McKenna Margin profile, and the patient-rebuild tension in the Yzerman step-back piece. For the entry-level economics that shape every top pick, our McKenna contract breakdown sets the comparables.

Sources and Reporting

• Daily Faceoff: Grier's post-lottery "open to listening" quote
• San Jose Hockey Now: the nine-to-two lottery jump
• 2026 NHL Entry Draft: Stenberg No. 2, Verhoeff No. 9 (from Florida)
• ESPN: 2026 prospect rankings (Stenberg)

The Verdict: Grier's Open Phone

The Sharks played it exactly right. A nine-to-two jump handed Grier a top-two asset, he let the market set its price for seven weeks, and when no offer beat the player, he kept the pick and took Ivar Stenberg — then grabbed Keaton Verhoeff at No. 9 for the blue line he supposedly needed to trade for. The Open Phone was never a fire sale; it was a GM making the league bid against his own draft board, and winning. The defensemen come next, on July 1, with cash instead of picks.