Sharks looking at 4 options for No. 2 overall pick in 2026 NHL Draft originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The San Jose Sharks aren’t making it easy to read their intentions.
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They hold the No. 2 overall pick in the upcoming 2026 NHL Draft, and they seem to be considering a variety of options in that spot.
One potential indicator comes during NHL Draft Combine week, which just took place, and in which the Sharks took four different players out to dinner.
Does that mean they’ve got as many as four players on their mind? Seems that way.
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The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler reported that the Sharks had dinner with three defensemen: Carson Carels, Chase Reid and Keaton Verhoeff. They also dined with Swedish forward phenom Ivar Stenberg.
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“Their direction at No. 2 has been the trickiest for teams to pin down,” Wheeler writes on X.
The Sharks have clearly taken an interest in the blue line during this scouting process. This draft does have some high-quality defensive prospects that most teams would have just below Gavin McKenna and potentially Stenberg on draft prospects.
It also makes sense for the Sharks to look into Stenberg, on the assumption that the Maple Leafs start the draft with McKenna and then that Stenberg is the next best forward available.
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There’s no way to know just from this report if the Sharks are now leaning any particular direction, but it’s a big pick for them.
Led by Macklin Celebrini, the Sharks were an improved bunch for much of the 2025-26 season before fading a bit down the stretch. They’re still a young team, and whoever they pick here can join the young core.
It just appears, at least from the outside, that the Sharks are far from determining who the selection will actually be.
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