Avalanche May Have Landed the Steal of the 2026 NHL Draft

The Colorado Avalanche are familiar with later rounds of the NHL Draft. They often trade early-round picks to help improve the roster now and compete for another Stanley Cup. Leaving them with a lot of scouting to do in the later rounds of the draft.

Whether the player the Avalanche drafted was used on the team or packaged in a trade to acquire another player, the team had to make do with where their picks fell. The past couple of drafts have shown some flashes of promise, with some prospects taken later in the drafts.

Though for the Avalanche, while it might not be as deep as the seventh round, with the 128th pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, the Avalanche may have been able to take the steal of the draft. A puck-moving defenseman, too many teams might not have liked the cons that came with the pros.

Coming in at 5-foot-11 and 179 pounds, playing at Örebro HK U20, the U20 league for the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), Axel Elofsson is a puck-moving defenseman who finished his pre-draft season with nine goals and 32 assists for 41 points. He did manage to get into six games for the main Örebro HK teams but didn’t record a point.

Elofsson, heading into the draft, could easily be listed as one of the most offensively gifted defensemen heading into the 2026 Draft. He has all of the skills needed to lead the offense from the blueline, from his skating to his hockey sense to his vision with and without the puck.

Axel Elofsson is viewed as R2 pick, but he might be the best offensive D-man in the draft after Villeneuve.

Always manages to produce, including 26 P in 20 GP in U20 Nationell and 11 P in 5GP at the Hlinka. Here are some clips from the recent WJAC-19 (#2, SWE).#2026NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/dFYzS3OLhb
— Ben Misfeldt (@BBMHockey) December 17, 2025

He’s able to make space with his skating to open up shooting lanes and send them on net, or use those lanes to send a pass to his teammates with the help of his vision. With his skill set, you can see why the Avalanche would not think twice about passing on him with their second pick in the fourth round.

“Elofsson has intrigued me for a few years now. He’s truly one of the most fascinating puck-movers in this draft class – he reminds me of Lane Hutson, but without the elite-level skating and hockey sense. But with the puck, Elofsson is outstanding. The numbers have been incredible in both domestic and international competition. When he’s at his best, he can lead the power play and create quality chances through traffic. He’s very elusive with the puck overall. Defensively, though, he needs work, and he’s undersized at 5-foot-11.” Stephen Ellis, Daily Faceoff

Though his game isn’t perfect, he really does need to improve more on the defensive side. While his skills with the puck on his stick are excellent and often lead to great things, he often tries too much to force a play or does too much, which can lead to him turning the puck over and causing mistakes.

The factor many see as his biggest weakness is his size. At 5-foot-11, it's hard to be an NHL player. Sure, Lane Hutson is 5-foot-9, but he was a second-round pick for a reason; the offense would carry some of his weaknesses early, and it's showing with how well he's doing with the Montreal Canadiens.

With bigger bodies coming at him on the forecheck, it hasn't stopped him from being physical; he just needs to see if he can grow a bit more and add some muscle when he takes that next step.

Seeing Value Already Just One Year In

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Starting the season on loan with IK Oskarshamn in the HockeyAllsvenskan league (the second-highest professional/semi-pro division of Sweden), in 18 games, he has zero goals but 19 assists, which is good for first in assists and third in points on the team.

Among the whole league, his 19 assists land him second and sixth in points. This is a massive step, with the league being almost like the AHL for the NHL; while there aren't a lot of NHL prospects, he's facing much older, bigger, and tougher competition night in and night out.

Obviously, at 18 years old, there is still plenty of room to grow, and it will be interesting if he continues this production through the whole season. The next true test will be how he performs when he gets back into the SHL.

If he can continue some similar production and make those next steps in strengthening areas of weakness while showing off those offensive talents, the Avalanche would really have an interesting prospect in the next three years when they can bring him over to North America and see how he performs in the AHL with the Colorado Eagles.

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