Forward or defense? Ivar Stenberg or Chase Reid?

These are a couple of the questions for GM Mike Grier now that the San Jose Sharks have the No. 2 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

Winger Gavin McKenna is the consensus first-overall.

So immediately post-lottery, four options have risen to the top of NHL experts’ mock drafts.

Steven Ellis from Daily Faceoff and NHL.com’s Mike G. Morreale, are on Team Stenberg.

The winger has spent most of his season with Frölunda HC of the Swedish Hockey League this season, where he’s played 43 games with 11 goals and 22 assists. The 5-foot-11 Swede also represented Sweden at multiple levels, including at the U-20 World Juniors, where he recorded 4 goals and 6 assists through 7 games played.

“Stenberg is strong with the puck, has a fantastic shot and might have the second-best hockey sense of anyone in the draft behind McKenna,” Ellis wrote. “Had one of the best seasons by a U-19 player in recent SHL history.”

Stenberg projects as an all-around first-line winger.

Morrealle wouldn’t be surprised if the Sharks traded down and picked a defenseman.

Speaking of defense, there’s blueliner Chase Reid.

Reid played for the Soo Greyhounds of the OHL this season, playing 45 games with 18 goals and 30 assists. He’s set to join Michigan State in the fall, and is reportedly already training with the team on campus.

Chris Peters from FloSports, Sam Cosentino of Sportsnet, Scott Wheeler from The Athletic, and Craig Button of TSN see the Sharks drafting Reid at the No. 2 spot.

Peters and Wheeler rank Reid’s future upside as somewhat higher than Sam Dickinson’s, so adding Reid to the San Jose Sharks roster could give them a potent one-two punch, Reid taking the lead.

Wheeler wrote that Reid “feels tailor-made to be…future RHD1 and PP1 QB” for the Sharks going forward.

Fit was key to Peters’ thoughts as well.

“While Ivar Stenberg is a strong [pick], the opportunity to add another cornerstone to their defense is an opportunity San Jose shouldn’t pass up,” Peters wrote. “He plays a style that fits almost perfectly with the direction San Jose is heading in.”

Button, on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, compared Reid to Zach Werenski: “He’s got kind of a similar style of play to Zach Werenski. Somebody that can drive play from the moment he gets the puck.”

Beyond Reid and Stenberg, Adam Kimelman from NHL.com raised Alberts Smits’ name.

The Latvian defenseman featured as the youngest player at the Olympics in February, where he recorded 2 assists in 4 games. And in 38 games with Jukurit in the Finnish Hockey League, Liiga, he had six goals and seven assists.

“He’s a strong skater, has a high-end offensive game and his maturity on and off the ice — he lived on his own at age 13 when he left his native Latvia to play in Finland — makes him a possibility to play in the NHL as soon as next season,” Kimelman wrote.

Staying on the blueline, Cam Robinson of Elite Prospects thinks that the San Jose Sharks will select Carson Carels.

“Arguably the most NHL-ready blueliner in the crop, Carels brings an impressive two-way, physical game that could translate to a top pairing role down the line,” Robinson wrote.

Center Caleb Malhotra and defenseman Keaton Verhoeff could also be in the mix for the San Jose Sharks.

The Sharks have a over a month to make their decision at the NHL Draft on Jun. 26.