2026 NHL Draft Profile: Måns Gudmundsson

I promise I didn't choose to write a profile about Gudmundsson just to make a Too Much Måns joke. But I won't deny it was a minor factor.

I also promise I didn't set out to profile all these Swedish players. Gudmundsson is the third of six full profiles I'll be writing, and then there will be seven more Swedes mentioned in the list of mini-profiles in the final week before the draft. What can I say? They produced more interesting prospects this year compared to other countries.

THE BASICS: STATS AND CONTEXT

• Position: Right-shot defenseman
• League(s): U20 Nationell
• Height: 6'2"
• Weight: 186 lbs
• Birthdate: Jun 9, 2008

Here are his draft rankings, as of writing this:

• TSN NHL Scout Poll: Not ranked
• Cam Robinson NHL Scout Poll: Not ranked
• Corey Pronman: Not ranked
• Will Scouch: Not ranked
• Elite Prospects: 69th
• Scott Wheeler: Honourable mention
• McKeen's Hockey: 69th
• Upside Hockey: 65th
• NHL Central Scouting: 18th (European skaters)

Gudmundsson, born just two days before fellow Swedish defenseman I've profiled Malte Gustafsson, is kind of a lesser version of him. He's not quite as big (one inch smaller and a kind of lanky 190 lbs), he doesn't have the same defensive chops, he's not as elite of a skater, and his two-way potential leans more towards offensive as his bigger strength compared to Gustafsson.

But where Gustafsson played more games in the SHL this year, Gudmundsson played almost entirely in Sweden's top junior league. He played in 35 games there this season, and finished with the second most points by defensemen for his age group with 25 points – 24 of those were assists. He added 5 points in 7 playoff games, and played in a smattering of games in the U18 junior league with absurd production (11 points) across 7 regular season and playoff games.

Through most of the season in Sweden's junior league, Gudmundsson was a heavy-minutes, all situations top pairing defensemen for Färjestad. In fact, he had the second highest ice time among all skaters on the team. He quarterbacked their top powerplay unit all year, and was good at it too. He was also a top penalty killer for the team.

Gudmundsson did get into some international games for Sweden, but not as many. He didn't get invited to the Hlinka Gretzky tournament the summer before the regular season, but did play at the WJAC and had two points in 5 games. He played 20+ minutes in three of the seven games he played, including twice in the three elimination games and a tournament high 21:18 in the gold medal game. He was the second or third most played on the team behind Gustafsson and was often used as his partner on the top pair at even strength. He had four points in those seven games, which tied for second on the team for defensemen. In 9 other international games he played for Sweden, he had 2 goals and 3 assists. His powerplay usage was the 1B unit, or second unit depending on who you ask. He was also one of their main penalty killers.

Honestly, this is veering into the scouting section more than his stats and context, but Gudmundsson's special teams utility is something that is very valuable about him. He may not ever be an elite powerplay quarterback, but he's good enough at it that with some improvements I can see him being an adequate secondary option there. And his potential as a penalty killer with his size, reach and defensive instincts is even greater.

THE GOOD: PHYSICAL DEFENSE, BREAKOUT PASSING, SPECIAL TEAMS VERSATILITY

While Gudmundsson's powerplay and offense abilities are what will probably get more attention, it's his defensive potential I'm most interested in. His defensive style is to be disciplined with his positioning, playing with a physical edge where he looks to check the opponent's body first but avoiding taking penalties. He has the frame to be imposing defensively, and has the instinct to pin his guy on the boards and smother their movement – again, without taking many penalties, so he's smart at toeing that line.

Gudmundsson's transition defense also looks very strong, with good skating that allows him to maintain an aggressively narrow gap and kill transitions early. And if I count his ability to drive transitions out of his own zone (which I do), you can add that as arguably his best defensive skill. He can hit stretch passes for longer range outlets, he will use clever give and go's starting in his own zone to escape pressure but get the puck back to carry it out with speed. He has good vision and decent puck handling and elusive skating to escape pressure from forecheckers.

As far his offensive skills go, Gudmundsson plays a smart, calm and efficient game. He doesn't have a lot of flash or elite dynamic abilities, but you can count on him to be reliable with the puck and turn it over at a lower rate than others. He picks his spots smartly when it comes to taking risks, like jumping into the play as an extra forwards or pinching in from the blueline. He has enough elusiveness and tricks (fakes, look-offs, spins, etc) to shed defenders along the blueline so he can pass the puck back to the forwards who are open deeper in the zone and prolong the possession.

And if you're not a fan of defensemen who shoot too much and have a magnetic attraction to shin pads, then good news! Gudmundsson is not like that. Between every game he played this year, domestically or internationally, playoff or regular season, at whatever league/age group, he had a grand total of 5 goals in 70 total games. A goal scorer he is not, but a puck mover he is. He may not be an elite playmaker, but he can help facilitate the offense at the very least.

THE FLAWS: INCONSISTENCY, SKATING MECHANICS, PUCK HANDLING

When it comes to Gudmundsson's flaws, there are two groups I could put them in. First is the issue of his various tools and skills maybe not being good enough to project him to the NHL as reliably as you'd like, and then there's a mix of smaller more nitpicky things.

From the first group, Gudmundsson lacks more high-end puck handling skills. He looks stiff and it's rare to see a flash of him being able to pull of a more complex looking deke – especially in tight spaces. He may be smart enough to know this limitation and has other ways to mitigate this as a problem, but that's something that can be more easily exposed at higher levels.

Somewhere between that group and the more nitpicky one is some questions I've seen scouts raise about Gudmundsson's skating mechanics. When in stride, his posture tends to be more rigid and overly tall/upright. That helps with things like vision, but on the bad side it restricts the length and power of his strides. It can also cause balance issues when he has to suddenly pivot or stop and start in a change of direction.

While Gudmundsson is generally reliable with the puck and doesn't turn it over much relative to most of his peers, that tends to crumble when he deals with faster and more aggressive forechecks. That's true for most defensemen, including a lot even in the NHL, but it's something where he definitely looks like a junior in those situations still. He'll need to work on staying calm and practicing what he can do so it becomes instinct for him.

On the defensive side, the only complaint I've seen when watching Gudmundsson that I've seen scouts mention is that he can be too dogged in pursuing puck carriers, and wind up wildly out of position as a result. I have definitely seen him do it but it's not a common thing in the games I've caught.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

The reasons why I still buy into Gudmundsson's potential lies in the areas of improvement he had over this season, and by how much he improved overall – especially on defense, which I care more about.

While Gudmundsson started the year more passive in everything he did (offense and defense), he defensively became much more aggressive in throwing hits, shoving forwards away from the crease and just being a mean prick to his opponents. At the World U18s he threw some big hits that broadcasts would say shifted momentum, but I would say were just pretty sick.

Gudmundsson may be a bit thin and lanky, but he has the frame and the willingness to play a hard defensive style that NHL teams like. With time in the gym and with nutrition and strength coaches, he's more likely to fill out and add the extra strength and weight he'd need for the professional level. This is something I want to call out because you'd think it wouldn't be that hard for a player to "learn" how to just play with more of a physical edge and meanness, but from what I've seen it might be one of the more rare things that a player can dramatically change about themselves.

Gudmundsson also got a lot better defending the rush. His backwards mobility and gap control improved pretty significantly from what I could tell, and there's a reason why he went from not being part of Sweden's roster for the Hlinka last summer to being on their top pair at the World U18s this spring. His stick work, footwork, mobility and aggression made me bump him up from profiling him for the third or even fourth round to the second.

The final and arguably the most important improvement Gudmundsson made this year was his breakouts and puck movement. His accuracy and reliability got so much better by the end of the season. He looked much more calm, less prone to panic and turnovers, and had much greater confidence to hold the puck a bit longer or make a more complicated play to elude forecheckers so he has more time and space to make that first pass out of the zone.

The level of pure skill may be a question mark, but he has the tools and the foundation after all these improvements to make me think very highly of him for any other defenseman in the range of the late second round – in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if his play at the World U18s leads him to being taken before Toronto would even have the chance to pick him. If he doesn't, he'd be one of the few names I'm mentally juggling at the top of my "do want" list for this range.

Thanks for reading!

I put a lot of work into my prospect articles here, both for the draft and Toronto's prospects. I do it as a fun hobby for me, and I'd probably do it in some capacity even if PPP completely ceased to exist. But if you like reading my work, some support would go a long way! I pay for a few streaming services (CHL, NCAA, USHL, the occasional TSN options for international tournaments that are broadcast) to be able to reliably watch these prospects in good quality streams. I also pay for some prospect-specific resources, such as tracking data and scouting reports from outlets like Elite Prospects, Future Considerations, McKeen's Hockey, The Athletic, and more.

Being able to get paid for this helps me dedicate more time and resources to it, rather than to second/third jobs. And whatever money I make here, a lot of I reinvest back into my prospect work through in those streaming and scouting services. Like I said, I'd be doing whatever I can afford for this anyway, so any financial help I get through this is greatly appreciated!