Game Day Gutcheck, Lineups & Stats: Ivar Stenberg vs Gavin McKenna I

Ten years to the day that the first two picks in the 2016 NHL Draft, Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine, faced one another for the first time in the NHL, the first picks in the 2026 NHL Draft will do the same. Tonight, we'll see San Jose Sharks forward Ivar Stenberg face off against the only player picked ahead of him at the draft: Gavin McKenna.

Stenberg and McKenna are two of the favorites to win the Calder Trophy this season, alongside Anton Frondell and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard:

With that being said, Stenberg and McKenna are the youngest players in the race as well. They're the only players from the 2026 draft class to record a point in the NHL at this point and only five players were able to crack an NHL roster right after the draft in general. Points wise, Stenberg and McKenna are on a similar pace. Both have scored two goals so far, but Stenberg has six points compared to McKenna's five, despite the Maple Leafs forward having an extra game played.

Despite being the most effective part of their game to this point in the season, the Sharks won't be able to rely on special teams to help them in Toronto. The Maple Leafs have a nearly perfect penalty kill through nine games, as they lead the league with a 96.4% success rate. Their power play isn't anything to disregard either, as they've converted on 26.7% of man advantages, the seventh best rate in the NHL.

The Maple Leafs do have a few major injuries though. Chris Tanev and John Tavares are amongst those on the injured reserve and William Nylander is set to be a game-time decision due to an illness that kept him out of the morning skate. 

Toronto's Matthews has scored at nearly a goal-per-game pace against the Sharks in his career, lighting the lamp 14 times in 16 games. If Nylander is out due to his illness, that'll be huge for the Sharks as well considering he has 21 points in 16 games against the team in teal. Surprisingly, defenseman Nick Blankenburg also scores against the Sharks at a high rate, with five points in six games. 

As for the Sharks, captain Macklin Celebrini has just two points in four games against the Maple Leafs and has yet to score a goal. Mason Marchment and Alex Wennberg have had considerable success against Toronto throughout their careers. Michael Misa, who had one point against the Maple Leafs in his only appearance against his hometown team, is the only player on the Sharks who has scored at a point-per-game pace against the Leafs.

Sergei Bobrovsky is expected to be in net for the Maple Leafs, and he's been dominant against San Jose. In 23 games, he has a 15-6-2 record with a .932 save percentage and a 2.25 goals against average. Yaroslav Askarov, who will be starting for the Sharks, has yet to play the Maple Leafs in his short career. 

Maple Leafs Projected Lines (Per David Alter)

Nylander* - Matthews - Roslovic

Cowan - Paul - Marchenko

McKenna - Sissons - Lettieri

Duhaime - Blueger - MacEwen

McCabe - Raddysh

Rielly - Stecher

Ekman-Larsson - Blankenburg

Bobrovsky

Ahktyamov

*GTD

Sharks Projected Lines (Per Curtis Pashelka)

Chernyshov - Celebrini - Smith

Marchment - Wennberg - Toffoli

Stenberg - Misa - Sherwood

Goodrow - Ostapchuk - Graf

Nurse - Kesselring

Dickinson - Trouba

Orlov - Cagnoni

Askarov 

Nedeljkovic