In this year’s European league playoffs, some of the top-rated prospects for the 2026 NHL Entry Draft have begun to assert themselves among the pros.

Last week, Czech winger Adam Novotný scored in each of the sixth and seventh games of his team’s quarterfinal series, helping Mountfield Hradec Králové to advance over BK Mladá Boleslav.

On Monday it was another 17-year-old winger, Swede Ivar Stenberg, who scored the game’s only goal in Game 6, the series-clincher for Frölunda HC over Timrå IK, the team coached by Olli Jokinen.

With just over two minutes remaining in the first period, Stenberg placed his six-foot, 187-pound frame in front of Timrå goaltender Tim Juel and a fluttering shot from the point by Linus Högberg hit the shaft of his stick and deflected in.

That was it for scoring in the game. Tobias Normann, starting in place of the injured Lars Johansson, stopped all 29 shots he faced to give Frölunda the 1-0 shutout victory.

“I felt like I was in good position in front of the net and managed to get a bit of a tip on the puck – it was a huge stroke of luck but it’s just as nice that it went in,” Stenberg said in a TV interview during the first intermission, according to his club’s website.

“It’s so much fun to play playoff hockey – I don’t want to do anything else right now, I feel,” Stenberg continued. “We had a very good first period, it looks stable all over the rink so I’m happy with the first.”

It seems Stenberg, the younger brother of 19-year-old St. Louis Blues prospect Otto Stenberg, does enjoy playoff hockey. With now three points in six games, he has matched his total from 25 SHL regular-season games.

And with three points, Stenberg is now tied for the fourth-most points in the SHL playoffs among players under the age of 18. The three players ahead of him are Kevin Fiala and Marco Kasper, who recorded six points in 2014 and 2022, respectively, and Frölunda defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, who had five in 2017.

Ex-Star, Shark Changes Teams In Sweden Swedish forward Jacob Peterson, 25, has left Rögle BK and signed with rival SHL club Frölunda HC, <a href="https://www.frolundahockey.com/article/93vaspv-24601/view">the latter club announced on Friday</a>.

Stenberg, of course, still has at least one more series to add to his total. Up next for Frölunda is a semifinal series with Luleå, which begins on Saturday.

For Stenberg, there’s also the IIHF U-18 World Championship, which will be played April 23 to May 3 in Frisco and Allen, Tex.

Last summer in Edmonton, Stenberg had 10 points in five games for Sweden at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Over the course of the season, he has 34 points in 20 games for the Swedish U-18 national team.

Ivar Stenberg Continues a Family Tradition of Winning a Medal at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup The younger brother of a first-round NHL draft pick had a performance to remember at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. But Ivar Stenberg may not be the last brother to win a medal.