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Sweden’s Viktor Klingsell has elite playmaking potential and could be a steal at the draft
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Photo credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
Adrian Kiss
Jun 23, 2025, 17:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 22, 2025, 21:48 EDT
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With the 2025 NHL Draft approaching, conversations around who should be picked where are ramping up. While it’s fun to focus on first-round picks — as they typically offer the highest reward — it’s important to look beyond the opening rounds. It’s not unusual to find hidden gems later in the draft.
Currently in the NHL, players like Brad Marchand and Kris Letang were selected in the third round, while Jamie Benn and Kirill Kaprizov were taken in the fifth. There are steals to be had if you play your picks right.
An intriguing player who could be worth taking a chance on is 18-year-old Swedish forward Viktor Klingsell.

Scouting report

Hailing from Järfälla, Sweden, Klingsell is a five-foot-10, left-shot right-winger. His hockey upbringing came through his hometown club, Järfälla HC. He spent 2022 to 2025 with Skellefteå AIK’s junior team, appearing in 58 games before earning a brief three-game stint with the club’s senior squad to close out the season.
Steven Ellis from Daily Faceoff had this to say about the young forward:
“Klingsell is an interesting one. On one hand, you can see the obvious skill. He’s only 5-foot-10 (and a bit on the heavier side for that size) but he makes high-quality plays on the rush and can actually land some decent hits. He put up some good numbers in the Swedish U-20 league but it feels like he passed the puck more than he needed to. He can be fast at points but there’s still work to be done to become at least an average skater.”
Donesh Mazloum of FC Hockey praised Klingsell’s playmaking abilities:
“I don’t think he had an equal in the passing department at this tournament, showing all the hallmarks of an elite playmaker. He has the proverbial ‘eyes in the back of his head,’ and maximizes that vision with perfect precision and execution of his ideas. Sweden’s forward depth was, at times, uneven, so they leaned heavily on Klingsell and his line to earn the Hlinka Gretzky Cup bronze medal.”
It’s clear Klingsell can pass the puck and make things happen on the ice. While there’s room for improvement in other areas of his game, if he fine-tunes his skills to match his vision and passing, he could become an excellent complement to a goal scorer and a productive middle-six forward.

The numbers

Last season with Skellefteå AIK’s junior team, Klingsell recorded 17 goals and 22 assists for 39 points in 43 games. In the playoffs, he added seven goals and four assists in nine games — including two crucial goals that helped send his team to the finals.
International play has also suited Klingsell well. At the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, he posted four goals and eight assists. Later, at the U18 World Championship, he recorded eight points in seven games to help Sweden capture a silver medal. In February’s Five Nations Cup in Europe, he tallied four points in four games.

Availability and fit

Klingsell’s elite playmaking will be hard for teams to ignore as names begin to fly off the draft board. That ability may even be enough for clubs to overlook concerns about his size or skating.
Most scouting outlets project Klingsell to be selected in the third or fourth round. However, a few — such as Recruit Scouting and Draft Prospects Hockey — have him going in the late second round.
It’s possible some teams will wait and target other prospects first. But if a club manages to snag Klingsell in the third or fourth round, the reward could be significant — and he might end up being one of the steals of the draft.
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