Ivar Stenberg and Alberts Smits are clearly the two top players available among international skaters for the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft, according to NHL Central Scouting director of European scouting Jukka-Pekka Vuorinen.
Why is Stenberg, a forward with Frolunda in the Swedish Hockey League, No. 1 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of International skaters?
"The ability to score goals was a key factor in putting Stenberg ahead of Smits," Vuorinen said on the latest episode of the "NHL Draft Class" podcast. "Stenberg was (closely watched) in past seasons, so maybe that was a small mental factor for us, but the key factor was that Stenberg scored well in the Swedish Hockey League."
Stenberg (5-foot-11, 183 pounds) also was No. 1 in the midterm ranking released in January. The 18-year-old had 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) in 43 games for Frolunda, the most points in a season by an 18-year-old SHL player since Daniel Sedin (42) and Henrik Sedin (34) in 1998-99.
"Smits is also a very fast riser this year and he had an excellent season in two top men's leagues," Vuorinen said. "He played well for Latvia at the 2026 Winter Olympics and will now play in the men's World Championships in Switzerland."
Smits (6-3, 205) was No. 2 in the midterm rankings. The 18-year-old defenseman was the youngest player at the 2026 Winter Olympics, where he had two assists in four games for Team Latvia while averaging 18:44 of ice time. He had five points (one goal, four assists) in five games at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, leading Latvia in time on ice per game (23:40).
Smits had 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in 38 games for Jukurit in Liiga before he was loaned to Munchen on Feb. 25. He had one assist in five regular-season DEL games and has six points (two goals, four assists) in 10 playoff games and recently signed a contract with Jukurit that runs through the 2027-28 season.
Vuorinen also provided thoughts on which top international players might be NHL-ready.
Co-hosts Adam Kimelman and Mike G. Morreale also discussed with Vuorinen the top international centers on the board in forwards Oliver Suvanto of Tappara (Finland) and Viggo Bjorck of Djurgarden (Sweden), and also forward Elton Hermansson of Modo (Sweden). Hermansson (6-1, 181) was named best forward of the 2026 IIHF Under-18 World Championship after he had 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in seven games for gold medal-winning Sweden.
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