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Imagine being defenseman William Hakansson and being drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes.
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There’s excitement in knowing the Stanley Cup champions wanted you and picked you this year.
“I’m super pumped,” the Swede said this week.
There’s also the realization that the champions have many of their players under contract and returning, for next season and beyond., plus defensive prospects eager to play.
But no problem. You’re 18 and in no real rush. You’ll likely play in Sweden again in 2026-27 before making the jump to North America.
Hakansson, picked Saturday in the second round of the NHL Draft, 51st overall, was in Raleigh this week for Carolina’s prospect development camp. He said was able to watch the Canes in the playoffs and especially was impressed with the Canes’ aggressive, in-your-face style of play on the back end.
“Their D corps, and the way they play, I think that fits me really well,” he said. “It looks really fun.”
“Nastiness” was a word Canes assistant general manager Darren Yorke used in describing Hakansson, who was the Canes’ first pick in the draft Saturday after the team traded down out of the first round. It’s almost like a badge of honor for the Stockholm native, who is listed at 6-foot-4 and 216 pounds.
Hakansson played 22 regular-season games and nine in the playoffs with Lulea in the Swedish Hockey League last season. He said one of his first texts Saturday, after being drafted, was from a Lulea teammate, Jesper Sellgren.
Sellgren was a sixth-round pick by the Hurricanes in the 2018 draft. The defenseman made the move to North America and helped the Chicago Wolves, Carolina’s American Hockey League affiliate, win the league’s Calder Cup in 2002.
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But Sellgren would make the decision to return to Lulea and the SHL, signing a three-year contract, and has played in Sweden the past four seasons.
Hakansson said Sellgren never mentioned his days in the Hurricanes system or why he abandoned his hopes of advancing and playing in the NHL – something one of Sellgren’s Chicago teammates, defenseman Jalen Chatfield, was able to do and now will have his name on the Stanley Cup.`
Of the text Sellgren sent him Saturday, Hakansson said: “He talked good about the organization.”
Sellgren is hardly a big guy at 5-11 and 180 pounds, which might have worked against him. Hakansson is just the opposite, tall and rangy with a big frame.
Hakansson helped win a gold medal for Sweden in the 2026 U20 World Junior Championship, and was ranked 12th among European skaters by NHL Central Scouting entering the draft.
The Canes have a number of younger D-men aching to get on the Canes roster and stay there. Charles Alexis-Legault, Joel Nystrom and Ronan Seeley got the chance to play some NHL games this season while others such as Dominik Badinka – a second-round pick in 2024 – await their turn in the AHL.
Asked to describe his play, Hakansson said: “Tough, big D, good reach, try to use my stick a lot, move the puck forward, close gaps. And don’t let in any goals.”
Hakansson also has been described as a “prankster” off the ice. Accurate?
“I don’t know, I just like having fun,” he said, smiling. “That’s just part of my personality and I try to bring it around everywhere I go.”
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One day, he wants that to be the Hurricanes locker room.