On June 26, when the 2026 NHL Draft begins, the future of the Toronto Maple Leafs will be dramatically altered.Exactly how, though, remains up for debate.The Leafs won the draft lottery and hold the first pick. In contrast with many previous drafts, there is diverging thought as to what the team will do. There is a presumptive No. 1 in Gavin McKenna, but there is also no Macklin Celebrini or Connor McDavid in this draft: a clear-cut, slam-dunk No. 1 pick that can change the course of a franchise.The Leafs are also in a different place than most teams that pick No. 1: they are not starting from the ground up and looking to rebuild their team around one player. That’s what makes the decision fascinating.With the draft now on the horizon, we’ll be making the case in a series of stories for three different players: McKenna, Ivar Stenberg and Chase Reid. We’ll be looking at each player through a Leafs-specific lens while also considering the case against drafting each player, with final thoughts from draft expert Corey Pronman.Fredrik Sjöström had every right to wonder how Ivar Stenberg would survive in his first full season in the SHL, Sweden’s top pro division.Sjöström, Frölunda’s general manager, had a leadership group all in their mid-30s. His team had aspirations of winning both the SHL and Europe’s Champions League.Stenberg was going to be the youngest full-time player on Frölunda. The high-IQ winger had only dipped his toes in the SHL the previous season, playing 25 games (in addition to time with Frölunda’s Under-20 team) and logging just three points. The jump to senior hockey — complete with smarter, heavier players and increased physicality — can be troublesome for any teenager.If Stenberg didn’t adapt to a detail-oriented game and play men’s hockey the right way, his veteran teammates would let him know.As Frölunda’s season progressed, they won the Champions League and finished second in the SHL. And Sjöström saw those veteran teammates indeed let Stenberg know what they thought of him: they stayed late after practices to work with him, and were in awe of his skill. Conversations off the ice increased. They pushed him into greater responsibilities on the ice.With offensive wizardry and a largely mistake-free game, Stenberg showed he could handle professional hockey.“That’s a sign: if you bring the work every day and you’re humble, our older guys took a liking to (Stenberg),” Sjöström said. “They have tried to help him during the whole season and push him in the right direction. I think that speaks for itself.”And it could speak volumes to the Leafs as well.Stenberg’s playmaking and vision manifested throughout his season. At the 2026 World Juniors, he tied for the lead on a gold medal-winning Sweden team with 10 points in seven games. He logged 33 points in 43 games for Frōlunda. That was one of the highest totals ever by an 18-year-old in the SHL, in the realm of Henrik and Daniel Sedin.And so the case for Ivar Stenberg as the Leafs’ first pick in June is largely centred around what the team wants to do in the immediate future.If there is an openness internally to take a step back and rebuild to contention later in the decade as part of the plan, then the likelihood of taking Gavin McKenna or Chase Reid first would increase. But if John Chayka, Mats Sundin, whoever the Leafs’ next coach is and the MLSE board have their sights set on returning to the playoffs immediately, then Stenberg becomes the player to consider.