Ivar Stenberg moves in with Joe Thornton

Stenberg says it was the front office's call, and he was all for it.

Sheng Peng

@Sheng_Peng

"Mike [Grier] and the team here in San Jose wanted me to live with someone. I wanted that too." Ivar Stenberg on living with Joe Thornton, "crazy" American drivers, his NHL debut & more: t.co/3O7gylQKdm

So the GM asked the kid to live with someone, and the someone turned out to be Jumbo Joe. Not a bad landlord. Stenberg called Thornton "a perfect spot" and "a legend," and admitted he didn't watch him much growing up. That's fair enough for a Swedish teenager, and it's also a quote that should make every Sharks fan over 30 feel about 100 years old. Thornton is a Hall of Famer and the 1997 No. 1 overall pick, and head coach Ryan Warsofsky said what you'd expect: Joe can put an arm around the kid, talk to him, and guide him through the move.

This is a system now. Celebrini went through the Thornton house before he wore the C, and Stenberg is taking that exact route, right down to the car. The keys came along too: Stenberg is driving the car Celebrini used last season. He hasn't driven it much yet, and he already has a scouting report on the locals.

Curtis Pashelka

@CurtisPashelka

Stenberg: “I haven't driven too much, to be honest, but yeah, American drivers drive crazy.”

He's not wrong. Spend 5 minutes on 101 at rush hour and you'd say the same thing. Somebody should warn him before he takes Celebrini's old ride out on 280 near the Tank. People online jumped straight to what the captain is driving these days now that the hand-me-down is gone.

Andrew Knoll

@AndrewKnollNHL

Celebrini probably driving a Phantom now after the new contract.

Curtis Pashelka@CurtisPashelka

Ivar Stenberg said he’s now living with Joe Thornton and driving Macklin Celebrini’s car from last season

That one is a joke. Nobody has reported what Celebrini drives now. The hockey part is real, though. Stenberg arrived as the No. 2 overall pick, signed a 3-year entry-level deal on July 2, and comes over from Frolunda after leading every teenage skater in the SHL with 11 goals and 33 points in 43 games. At Friday's practice, the Sharks had him on a line with Alexander Wennberg and Graf.

Curtis Pashelka

@CurtisPashelka

#SJSharks lines, d-pairs in practice Marchment-Celebrini-Smith Chernyshov-Misa-Toffoli Stenberg-Wennberg-Graf Goodrow-Ostapchuk-Sherwood Leason-Dellandrea Nurse-Kesselring Allan-Dickinson Orlov-Cagnoni

That isn't a sheltered spot, but it also isn't the top line with Celebrini and Will Smith, so he gets room to grow into it. The Sharks are clearly trying to set up this kid the way they set up their captain: a legend at home, a hand-me-down car in the driveway and real minutes at the rink. If Stenberg turns out half as well as the last rookie who lived at Jumbo's, Thornton deserves an assistant GM title. Next to watch is how fast he moves up that depth chart, and whether he survives the Bay Area freeways.