In the long, illustrious history of the Calgary Flames at the NHL Draft, they have selected precisely one player hailing from the Kingdom of Norway. That individual is 2018 sixth-round pick Emilio Pettersen. In the 2026 NHL Draft class, there’s a fairly prominent Norwegian forward who’s impressed enough that the Flames should probably consider using one of their many, many second-round selections on him.

Let’s discuss Niklas Aaram-Olsen and his potential fit for the Flames.

What do scouts think of Niklas Aaram-Olsen?

A product of Oslo, Norway, Aaram-Olsen is a left shot winger listed at 6’1″ and 187 pounds. He’s an April 2008 birthday, so he’s slightly on the younger side of this draft class. His uncle is Mats Rosseli-Olsen, who played pro for years in Sweden and represented Sweden in two Olympic games.

Aaram-Olsen came up through Norwegian minor hockey, primarily in the Valerenga organization in Oslo. However, at some point many high-end Norwegian talents need to leave the proverbial nest to get to the next level, and Aaram-Olsen left Norway as a 15-year-old in 2023-24 to join Orebro HK in Sweden. The 2025-26 campaign was his third full season with Orebro, having played in Sweden’s top under-18 and under-18 leagues – the U18 Nationell and the U20 Nationell – in prior seasons.

In 2025-26, Aaram-Olsen primarily played in the U20 Nationell, but also made his professional debut in the Swedish Hockey League and played a single game in the U18 Nationell. He also represented Norway at the Under-18 World Championships and the Division 1A World Juniors – the tournament under-20 national teams need to win to move up into the “regular” World Juniors. (He appeared in those international tournaments in 2024-25, too.)

Back in December, Dobber Prospects’ Ethan Lindey wrote this assessment of Aaram-Olsen:

Aaram-Olsen demonstrates strong energy and speed, causing his opponents trouble both in their own zone and in transition. He’s a good puck carrier thanks to his shiftiness and explosiveness, though his hands occasionally lag behind. He flashes creativity with the puck but struggles to execute consistently, either hesitating or processing the play more slowly than he skates. Aaram-Olsen can take over shifts with his blend of intensity and skill, but his overall impact is limited by a lack of high-end finishing ability.

Our pal Steven Ellis at Daily Faceoff included Aaram-Olsen in his May top 100 rankings, with this recap of his season:

Aaram-Olsen always shines internationally, typically playing a big role for Norway across all age groups. He’s a pure goal-scorer, and he often can be found dominating his own age group. I love him on the power play, where it feels like he does a good job of cycling the puck and then firing quick one-timers. Against men, though. Aaram-Olsen has left a lot to be desired, and scouts have knocked him for having a lack of high-end tools outside of his shot. If he can play with more pace and learn to dominate play through the middle, he could be a good snag. I like the upside, even if some scouts aren’t as convinced.

How did Niklas Aaram-Olsen produce in 2025-26?

Aaram-Olsen had 20 goals and 20 assists for 40 points across 29 U20 Nationell games. he was tied for 17th in the league in points and tied for sixth in goals. He was fifth in points among under-18 players in that circuit.

He had zero points in 16 SHL games. He was third in under-18 players in SHL games played, though, behind only Viggo Bjorck and Malte Gustafsson.

He also had four goals in five Under-18 World Championship games and 10 points in five Division 1A World Junior games.

Could Niklas Aaram-Olsen be a fit for the Calgary Flames?

The Flames are a team that needs to score more goals, and adding a skilled left shot winger to the fold would be a nice way to help do that. He’s drawn lots of praise for his play within his age group, so it’ll remain to be seen if he can keep developing. But so far, so good, and you can easily imagine the Flames liking a lot of elements of his game.

On most public draft rankings, Aaram-Olsen appears either very, very late in the first round or in the early portion of the second round. The Flames currently own the 30th or 31st overall selection (via Vegas) and four second-round picks, including a pair quite early in that round. So if the Flames want to draft their second Norwegian ever, they likely have the draft capital available to make it happen.