Hurricanes select William Hakansson No. 51 overall at the 2026 NHL Draft

The Carolina Hurricanes have selected defenseman William Hakansson with the No. 51 overall selection of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.

The Calgary Flames held the pick heading into the day, but traded it, along with the No. 68 selection, to the Hurricanes for the No. 42 pick. The Flames used that spot to take goaltender Tobias Trejbal.

Hakansson was projected to be selected around 36th or 37th overall on average across all of the main draft rankings, going as high as 19th and as low as 69th. He was also ranked 12th among European skaters by NHL Central Scouting. Daily Faceoff prospect analyst Steven Ellis projected him to go around consensus at 37th overall.

Ellis had this to say about Hakansson in his most recent draft rankings:

“Håkansson didn’t get a ton of ice time at the World Juniors, but we saw exactly what he’s capable of – raw defensive energy. There’s absolutely no flash to his game. Instead, he uses his big 6-foot-4, 207-pound frame to flatten opponents while being a pain in the rear end defensively. He’s quite mobile for his frame, too. Håkansson’s lack of offensive awareness won’t help his draft stock, but I absolutely could see him becoming a solid shutdown defender in the NHL. I like his frame, but if he could learn to use that more effectively and consistently, he’d make it impossible to leave him off an NHL roster.”

Hakansson spent the majority of his 2025-26 season in the Swedish Hockey League with Lulea HF. In 22 games with the team, he had two assists as Lulea finished seventh in the SHL with a 26-22-4 record. The Solna, Sweden product also went pointless in nine playoff games as Lulea was eliminated in the semifinals.

Hakansson was also loaned to Almtuna IS in HockeyAllsvenskan, where he had two goals and two assists for four points in 16 regular-season games, as well as two assists in two qualification games.

Hakansson also played for Lulea’s U20 team, where he had four assists in six games in the regular season, and a goal and three assists for four points in five games in the playoffs.

Hakansson also represented Sweden at the 2026 World Junior Championship, where he had two assists in seven games as the Swedes captured gold in the tournament.