William Hakansson is a left-shot defenseman standing 6’4 and weighing 207 pounds. Born on October 8, 2008, in Solna, Sweden, the 18-year-old blueliner is developing in his home country within the Luleå organization. Hakansson, however, moved around quite a bit this season between the U20 Nationell, the SHL, and the HockeyAllsvenskan (the professional league below the SHL). This does not even include his appearances in international tournaments. He was also part of Sweden’s delegation at the World Junior U20 Championship, a notable achievement for a draft-eligible player. The defenseman is frequently ranked inside the top 32 of public draft lists, while NHL Central Scouting places him 12th among European skaters.
The TSLH Prospect team will provide numerous prospect profiles for the 2026 Draft over the coming weeks. The analyses from all of our scouts will be compiled in the TSLH Prospect 2026 Draft Guide in scouting report format. The 2026 Guide and all archives of previous Guides are available on the TSLH Podcast Patreon!
2025-2026 Statistics
William Hakansson is not the type of player who fills up the scoresheet every night. At the U20 level, it is normal to see him produce more offense (4 points in 5 games during the 2026 playoffs). However, in the SHL, his role is primarily focused on defensive responsibilities. The left-shot defenseman recorded only two assists in 22 SHL games with Luleå and went scoreless in 9 playoff games. At the U20 World Championship, Hakansson posted just two assists in 7 games. Finally, in the HockeyAllsvenskan, where he was loaned to Almtuna, he collected four points in 16 games this season.
In the SHL, he was used for roughly ten minutes per game at most. His stint there came early in the season before he continued his campaign in the HockeyAllsvenskan. At that level, he averaged about 16 minutes per game. However, he was not used on special teams in either the SHL or the Allsvenskan. His passing efficiency is close to 90%, which is very strong.
At the World Junior Championship, he was used occasionally on Sweden’s penalty kill. He also averaged about 14 minutes of ice time per game in the tournament.
TSLH Prospect’s Notes
Here is the analysis of William Hakansson’s season through the eyes of our scout Pascal Lapointe from TSLH Prospect. All of our scouts’ analyses will be featured in the TSLH Prospect 2026 Draft Guide.
In recent years, I have tried not to carry a negative bias toward defensive defensemen when building my rankings. Whatever people may say, this type of defenseman is important for NHL teams. Every year, organizations prioritize certain names whose offensive projection is limited compared to the more recognized puck-moving defensemen at the draft. David Reinbacher, Dmitri Simashev, EJ Emery, and Carter Amico are a few examples who were selected ahead of much more offensive-minded rivals.
However, in my evaluation, for a defensive specialist to rank highly, he must check several boxes beyond simply being able to shut down opponents. William Hakansson, for example, displays many traits that translate to the NHL. First and foremost, he is an aggressive Swedish defenseman who makes opponents pay a physical price. In the SHL, HockeyAllsvenskan, or U20 Nationell, no opponent seemed to enjoy being in his vicinity this season. The big defenseman delivers hits consistently and does everything he can to disrupt his matchup using his stick or body. The same applies along the boards, where Hakansson closes off the middle lane and regularly punishes players trying to go outside.
Despite his age, the Swede is capable of breaking up plays to recover pucks and move them forward. We do not see him carry the puck much or contribute offensively, but that is simply not his role. He is used strictly in a defensive assignment. Evaluating his offensive ability is difficult, but the rest of his game is so high-level that I am not afraid to place him high in my first round.
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Pascal est notre expert en «scouting» pour le compte du TSLH Espoirs. Il collabore à la couverture du hockey pour TSLH depuis plusieurs années en se spécifiant sur les espoirs de la NHL. Pascal est aussi analyste et co-animateur pour le TSLH Podcast
Depuis plus de 15 ans, l’équipe de TSLH couvre l’actualité du hockey de la NHL avec rigueur. En tant que média accrédité, nous avons un accès privilégié aux activités de la AHL (Rocket de Laval) et des circuits juniors pour vous offrir une analyse d’experts sur les espoirs de la NHL.