Devils' 2026 Second-Round Draft Profile: Axel Elofsson
Evaluating what Axel Elofsson brings to the table as a potential target with the 44th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.
Thank you, as always, for reading the Devils’ Advocates Substack! If you enjoy the quasi-daily content, please consider subscribing and sharing with your friends, family, and any Devils fan you know. It is completely free of charge and helps out quite a bit!
Consider checking out the Devils’ Advocates Podcast, which features weekly episodes chock-full of in-depth content and exciting guest appearances. They’ll be available on this Substack, but you can also listen on your favorite platforms at the following links:
With the 2026 NHL Entry Draft just over a month away, and the Devils in possession of five picks, I’ll be going through a ton of prospects over the next several weeks in order to prepare readers for appealing targets in every round. At the end, I’ll be doing a full mock draft (with reasoning) so that you’ll be able to decipher my preferred targets. Enjoy!
All 2026 NHL Entry Draft Profiles:
12th Overall (First Round): Ethan Belchetz | Ryan Lin | Oscar Hemming | Wyatt Cullen | Viggo Björck | Xavier Villeneuve | Adam Novotný | Elton Hermansson | Tynan Lawrence
44th Overall (Second Round): Tommy Bleyl
103rd Overall (Fourth Round):
140th Overall (Fifth Round):
172nd Overall (Sixth Round):
A couple of days ago, this series finally moved on past the first round (though I will likely be revisiting that soon for another target or two), focusing on the Devils’ second-round pick instead. The first option I laid out — and my preferred pick should he be available — was Tommy Bleyl.
Next up is right-handed defenseman Axel Elofsson, who has one of the most hockey names in the class. The very-soon-to-be-18-year-old — he has a June 3rd birthday — spent this past season in the U20 Nationell, where he lit up the league with 41 points in 32 games, tops among all defensemen in the league. Among draft-eligible blueliners, he led the class in points by 16.
Let’s talk more in-depth about what he brings to the table as a potential second-round fit:
By the Numbers
Rankings: #63 by McKeen’s Hockey | #45 by SMAHT Scouting | #50 by DailyFaceoff
Size: 5’11, 165 Pounds
Production: 9 Goals & 32 Assists (41 Total Points) in 32 U20 Nationell Games
Because of that stellar production in the U20, Elofsson grades out extremely favorably in Byron Bader’s model. Among defensemen, he has the fifth-best star probability and fourth-best NHLer probability. The truth is, production does paint a large part of the picture in terms of projectability to the NHL, and Elofsson certainly finds ways to produce. The fact that all of his comparables have also logged time in the NHL and produced at least at an average level is extremely promising as well.
From an underlying perspective, there’s a lot to like here, especially for a second-round pick. In transition, he is among the best in the class from the blue line, contributing very heavily in both breakouts and zone entries. Defensively, there is a bit to be desired, though Elofsson’s puck touches in his own zone are regular, but offensively, he certainly grades out as dynamic across the board.
Evaluating Elofsson’s Tools
Skating
Elofsson is a very fluid skater, with an above-average top speed but a average-to-below-average ability to get to that top gear quickly. I find that, on the whole, he lacks some explosiveness, not generating as much power as you’d want to see in his first step or two. Once he does get to that top gear, though, he is more than capable of blowing right by someone.
What he lacks in acceleration, Elofsson makes up for in agility and edgework. He can make quick turns to escape pressure, spin moves to evade stick checks, and can walk the blue line with the best of them. This makes him a threat offensively at even strength and on the power play, and allows him to draw in coverage before quickly unraveling it.
As Elofsson continues to fill out and add strength to his lower body, it will be easier for him to develop the explosiveness that he lacks — adding it to his repertoire should be of paramount importance to him in his development, as it will make other parts of his game more dangerous as well.
Shooting
Elofsson’s wrist shot is strong, with a tight and powerful release and the sight to make him a threat at distance. He’s no stranger to changing the angle on his wrister and can execute a toe drag to deceive the goaltender or pull the puck around a defender while inching toward the goal. When he sees even an iota of space to move up and get himself in a more threatening area of the ice for a shot, he takes the opportunity every single time.
Elofsson’s one-timer is okay. It’s accurate enough, though he can certainly add some more power to blow it through a goaltender. He anticipates traffic well enough and can see through it with some consistency, which is a skill in and of itself.
Hockey Sense & Playmaking
Elofsson certainly has the creativity and vision to be a dynamic playmaking defenseman at whatever level he plays in. At his best, he draws defenders in by attacking downhill, makes a quick move to get around them, and finds an open cross-ice play:
This sort of downhill assault on the play is commonplace for Elofsson — as mentioned before, if he sees an opportunity with time and space, he will always attack. This allows him to either get into a prime shooting spot for himself, or, more often, opens up high-danger passing lanes that he exploits with frequency.
I find that Elofsson also tries difficult passes and plays regularly, trying to thread the puck through multiple layers of traffic in order to generate a high-danger look. At times, this works. At others, he is generally smart enough positionally to recover the puck anyway.
What I love about the above clip, other than the attempt at a saucer pass over two defensemen followed by a puck recovery, is his off-puck positioning when the eventual goal-scorer makes his move around the net. Elofsson perfectly places himself as a dual-threat option, either being there for a potential rebound or being there in the event that the puck carrier wants to dole off a pass to the inner slot. He knows where to be and when in order to get a high-quality look generated for his team.
Puck Skills
Elofsson keeps it simple and with a high success rate. You won’t see him pull a through-the-legs deke or anything like that, as he far prefers simple side-to-side dekes and head fakes to get the job done. Once he pulls a defender to his locale by attacking him head-on, he feigns to one side before pulling the puck back in order to create more space for himself.
Defensive Play
I think Elofsson has a ways to go in terms of his rush defense but is otherwise a strong positional defender. On the rush, he can sometimes over-aggress without having the quick-burst recovery ability to prevent an odd-man rush against, a la Simon Nemec or Dougie Hamilton. He’s continued to grow this part of his game, though, and I found it to be less of a problem as the season went on for him. It’s clear that he has been working on his defensive reads and playing a bit more conservatively on the rush, and improving his explosive skating will benefit this area of his game tremendously.
As far as in-zone defense goes, I think Elofsson is certainly a plus. He gets in passing lanes well and generally prevents pucks from getting to the interior of the ice by virtue of his understanding of the opposition and the play options that they have. He reads the defensive plays just as well as he reads things offensively.
Physicality
For a player of his stature, Elofsson is somewhat mean. He isn’t afraid to step up and make a physical play, oftentimes connecting on an open-ice hit when the play calls for it. When defending his own crease, he can occasionally get pushed out of the play by a bigger netfront forward, but that certainly isn’t for a lack of effort. As he gets stockier, this will be less of an issue. Regardless, the point stands that playing the body is a piece of Elofsson’s game that shows up regularly, be it in laying a big hit or playing physically along the boards — it’s a surprising and welcome skill for someone of his size.
Elofsson would be a solid get at 44th overall given his skillset. In my estimations, he has middle-pair upside as an offense-leaning two-way defenseman, which will only further be exacerbated by improvements in his explosive skating and as he continues to fill out and gain strength in his legs.
Next season, Elofsson will be in the HockeyAllsvenskan, where he should be looking at top-four minutes and power play time.
NHL Timeline: 2029-30
NHL Stylistic Comparables: Bowen Byram, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Sam Rinzel
The clips in this article that were taken from the World Junior Championship were taken from the IIHF. The clips from the Hlinka Gretzky Cup