Top 10 Swedes in the NHL Today

During the 2021-22 NHL season, a writer at The Hockey Writers tackled a complex list of who are the best Sweden-born players in the league. Historically, the country ranks among the best in international hockey, with a couple of Olympic gold medals and a boatload of World Championships.

Presently, eight Swedish players are in the Hockey Hall of Fame, with Henrik Lundqvist most recently joining the group in Nov. 2023. Meanwhile, Niklas Bäckström and Gabriel Landeskog have the skill set to earn recognition; however, their enshrinement will eventually come down to the voting committee, despite the hardware in their trophy cases.

Instead of listing Sweden’s most distinguished players, we tackled the country’s best players based on their 2025-26 and early 2026-27 numbers. Realistically, a handful of tenured players with solid resumes should be on the list; however, they were excluded for statistical purposes.

10. Jesper Wallstedt – Minnesota Wild

Last season, Filip Gustavsson was in this spot; now it’s his protege, Jesper Wallstedt. Surprisingly falling to the Minnesota Wild in the 2021 Draft at 20th overall, he started his professional career a little slow in the American Hockey League (AHL). But that seems like a lifetime ago now. He’s fully established himself as an NHL goaltender after taking the starting job from Gustavsson in 2025-26 and is already in Vezina Trophy conversations after his strong start to 2026-27. He has played the most of any goaltender as of this writing, rocking a 2.20 goals-against average (GAA) and a .915 save percentage (SV%).

9. Erik Karlsson – Pittsburgh Penguins

Erik Karlsson has been one of the NHL’s top Swedes for a long time. In fact, he leads the way among active Swedish players with 947 career points. He hasn’t been part of this list for a while, though, thanks to two seasons of average (by his standard) hockey. Since his superhuman 101-point 2022-23 season, where he won the Norris Trophy and finished top 10 in points, he has failed to hit 70 in three straight campaigns.

The smooth skating blueliner, who already has three Norris Trophies and will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame one day, saw a bit of a resurgence last season with 66 points, getting him back into the top 10. With 11 points in 10 games this season so far, maybe the Karlsson that hit the century mark has returned.

Even if that version of Karlsson hasn’t, we will probably see him hit 1,000 career points sometime in 2026-27. When that happens, he will join a club that only has eight members in it: Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey, Al MacInnis, Phil Housley, Larry Murphy, Nicklas Lidstrom, Denis Potvin and Brian Leetch. It’s fitting he’s part of this list right now, considering the milestone he’s about to reach.

8. Leo Carlsson – Anaheim Ducks

A new entry on this list, it hasn’t taken long for Leo Carlsson to establish himself as a star in the NHL. Drafted second overall by the Anaheim Ducks in 2023, he made the team as a 19-year-old in his draft-plus-one season and put up a modest 12 goals and 29 points in 55 games. He then put together two straight 20-goal campaigns, including 29 goals and 67 points last season, which caught the eye of Philadelphia Flyers general manager (GM) Daniel Briere. He pulled the trigger on an offer sheet worth $18 million average annual value (AAV) over five years that the Ducks eventually matched.

Carlsson, now one of the highest-paid players in the NHL, is the leader of the Ducks’ young core, which includes Cutter Gauthier and Beckett Sennecke, among others. He already has two 20-goal seasons under his belt at only 21 years old, and should be part of this list for many years to come. He is off to a great start in the first year of his big contract, with two goals and seven points in eight games so far.

7. Jesper Bratt – New Jersey Devils

Jesper Bratt is a sixth-round pick (162nd overall) from the 2016 Entry Draft. Usually, prospects selected so late take a while to develop into NHL regulars if they ever make it at all. Rarely do teams find hidden gems that become stars and eventually lead their team in scoring. Thus far, after nine seasons, Bratt continues to defy those odds.

The native of Stockholm, Sweden, routinely recorded 30-35 points over his four seasons before a breakout campaign in 2021-22, with a career-high 73 points. Because he was a pending restricted free agent, the New Jersey Devils offered him a one-year deal, which led to him netting 32 goals and 73 points for the second consecutive season. Bratt inked an eight-year extension as one of the lineup’s core players.

Although New Jersey took a step back in 2023-24 and missed the postseason after advancing to the second round in 2022-23, Bratt led the team in scoring again with 83 points. He battled generational talent Jack Hughes all season for the top spot but won the Devils’ scoring title for the second time in three seasons. Then, in 2024-25, he hit another career-high, increasing his point total to 88, and won the scoring title again. Last season, he fell back to 71 points, but hit the 20-goal mark for the fifth straight time.

6. Adrian Kempe – Los Angeles Kings

Adrian Kempe is one of the few Swedish-born players who has found modest success in the NHL after being drafted in the first round (29th overall) in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. During his first season, he scored just two goals in 25 games before becoming a regular in the Los Angeles Kings’ lineup in 2017-18, where he scored 16 times.

Slowly, Kempe has established himself as an elite goal scorer, netting 35 in 2021-22 before setting a career-high with 41 in 2022-23. Considering he plays half of his games on the West Coast, most fans who live in the Eastern time zones don’t get to see him in action, just catching the highlights.

Last season, Kempe had over 20 goals for the fourth straight season and recently surpassed 200 in his career. He notched his fourth 30-goal campaign in 2025-26 and nearly matched the career-high 75 points he set in 2023-24 with 73 points.

5. Rasmus Dahlin – Buffalo Sabres

Drafted first overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 2018, Rasmus Dahlin has quickly established himself as one of the best young defenders in the league. At age 18, he debuted in the NHL during the 2018-19 season and put up a solid nine goals and 44 points in 82 games, finishing third in Calder Trophy voting behind Elias Pettersson and Jordan Binnington.

Since that first season, Dahlin has become a rock on the Sabres’ blue line. As of this writing, he has 104 goals and 438 points in 592 games, including a career-high 19 goals and 74 points in 2025-26. He has hit double-digits in goals five times already, and is good for at least 50 points a season. He has also shown a capacity for leadership, as he was named captain of the Sabres ahead of the 2024-25 season.

4. Filip Forsberg – Nashville Predators

Since becoming a regular player for the Nashville Predators in 2014-15, Filip Forsberg had never missed the playoffs until the 2022-23 season, when the team came just three points shy of advancing to their ninth straight postseason. In 2022-23, Forsberg finished fourth in team scoring with 42 points, his lowest total in an 82-game season.

In 2023-24, Forsberg powered the Predators back into contention, reaching the 40-goal plateau for the second time in his career and finished the campaign by surpassing his career-high of 84 points. In fact, he became the first forward in team history to collect 90 points, finishing with 94. He hasn’t been able to replicate that in the two seasons since, but still hit the 75-point plateau and returned to the 40-goal club last season.

3. Lucas Raymond – Detroit Red Wings

After scoring 58 goals and 152 points over the last two seasons, Lucas Raymond climbs to number three on this list. He finished his fourth campaign in the Motor City with a career-high 80 points and is now one of the Detroit Red Wings’ most important players. Selected fourth overall in the 2020 Draft, he burst onto the scene in his rookie season in 2021-22 at 19 years old and finished fourth in Calder Trophy voting. He had a bit of a sophomore slump in 2022-23 with only 17 goals and 45 points in 74 games, but of course, rebounded nicely with his first 30-goal season and a 27-point jump in production. He hasn’t been able to hit 30 again, but has back-to-back 25-goal campaigns.

Known for his speed, playmaking, and now, goalscoring, Raymond is a constant threat on the ice and will likely hit 100 points at some point in his career. He is an exciting player to watch and will only get better as he builds strength and continues to adjust to the North American game. He’s a superstar in the making and should be in the realm of other great Swedes who have played for the Red Wings in no time – if he isn’t already, that is.

2. Mika Zibanejad – New York Rangers

By the 2026-27 season, there were over 400 Swedish players in the NHL; however, Mika Zibanejad is in a class all by himself. After a night to remember in 2020, he became the country’s first player with a Golden Goal in an international competition (2012 World Junior Championship) and a five-goal game in the NHL.

The sixth-overall pick in the 2011 Entry Draft broke into the league with the Ottawa Senators in 2011-12 before becoming a regular two seasons later. Eventually, Zibanejad became a prolific goal scorer, averaging 20 or more in eight seasons and reaching a career-high 41 in the shortened 2019-20 campaign. Although his production dipped the following season, he scored 29 goals in 2021-22 and 39 in 2022-23 before reaching the 20-goal plateau for the ninth time in 2023-24.

As the New York Rangers’ top center, Zibanejad found chemistry with Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider as they would frequently set each other up for goals. As usual, his totals ranked among the top Swedish players in the NHL, a spot he continues to occupy yearly. Although his best season may be in the past, he remains a lethal goal scorer, requiring additional attention when on the ice. He returned to form last season after struggling in 2024-25, hitting 30 goals for the fifth time in his career.

1. William Nylander – Toronto Maple Leafs

Since the start of the 2023-24 season, when William Nylander set a franchise record with points in his first 17 games, it could be argued that he is the best Swedish player in the NHL today. Despite playing in the shadow of Auston Matthews and his 69 goals, Nylander was the Toronto Maple Leafs’ leading scorer for most of the season.

Skating in the final year of his contract, many wondered if Nylander, whose career high was previously 87 points, would be able to cash in a deal worth $9 to $10 million he was seeking in the summer of 2024. So, under pressure to silence the doubters, he made a run for his first 100-point campaign, finishing two points shy of the mark with 98.

After an excellent start to the 2024-25 campaign, the Maple Leafs extended Nylander for eight years at $11.5 million annually. Although he fell to 84 points by the end of the season, he remained a lethal goalscorer, notching his third-straight 40-goal campaign – a career-high 45 goals. He struggled, along with his team, last season, notching his lowest goal total (30) since 2020-21 when he scored 17. But he still finished with the highest point total among Swedes, with 79, even though that was also the lowest he’s had since that same season. Nylander is already redeeming himself from that poor performance this season, with six goals and 15 points in 11 games.

Honorable Mentions

After ranking this year’s top ten Swedish players, the list did not include a handful of skaters who deserve recognition for their most recent efforts. Here are the names of those who didn’t make the list, including Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning), Rickard Rakell (Pittsburgh Penguins), William Eklund (San Jose Sharks), Simon Holmstrom (New York Islanders), Jakob Markstrom (Florida Panthers), Gustav Forsling (Panthers), and Elias Pettersson (Vancouver Canucks).

So far in 2026-27, 77 Swedish players (seven goalies) have skated in the NHL. Despite the career years from several players in 2025-26, many names on the list continue to do what they do best: score goals, collect points, and make saves, while representing Sweden to hockey fans across the globe.