D Malte Gustafsson - HV71, J20 Nationell (2026 Draft)

[Predatore]

Malte Gustafsson - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Malte Gustafsson, 2008-06-11 Väckelsång, SWE Sweden. Most recently in the J20 Nationell with HV71 J20. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

Big Swedish defenseman. Arguably the top Swedish d born 2008. Plays a two-way game and stands out with his combination of size+mobility.

Currently representing Sweden at the World U17 Challenge and is the leading d logging big minutes. Reminds me quite a bit of fellow Swedes Philip Broberg and Simon Edvinsson when they were his age.

Looks like a potential first rounder if he continues making huge strides.

Brother: Predators draftee Viggo Gustafsson

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[BKarchitect]

Impressive CV and traits for a 16 year-old. Always enjoy when watchers/scouts point out the defenseman to watch, as it always seems easy game to “sort by points” for forwards but I feel like advanced scouting like this for young defensemen to watch takes actual eyes on player - at least more so than forwards.

This seems like a prospect and thread which could blow up by the time this kid is draft eligible!

His brother seems underrated also. I doubt many outside of Nashville or Sweden realize he was a 3rd round pick and is already taking SHL shifts as a guy who just turned 18 as one of the youngest players of the 2024 draft.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

He's going to get a lot more buzz as we get closer to the 2026 draft. I think very likely a first rounder, and could be an early first rounder. I definitely see the Broberg and Edvinsson comparisons. Looked more like Edvinsson to me than Broberg. Not as much as the flashy pure puck rushing of Broberg, but more of the two-way beast of Ed.

I didn't know whether I like him or Bjorck more, which is a good thing because they were two of the standouts to me at the WHC17, but I think those two and Stenberg will compete for first drafted Swede in 2026 and I don't see 3 top 10 picks out of those three as impossible.