Kings select Elton Hermansson No. 19 overall in 2026 NHL Draft
With the No. 19 overall pick of the 2026 NHL Draft Friday night at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, the Los Angeles Kings selected right winger Elton Hermansson of HockeyAllsvenskan’s Modo.
The 19th overall pick initially belonged to the Utah Mammoth. However, in order to take Ethan Belchetz, the Mammoth traded up for the Kings’ No. 17 pick, with Utah also giving L.A. the No. 83 pick in the draft.
If you’re a fan of danglers, Hermansson, 18, is appointment viewing. Blessed with a filthy pair of mitts, he ripped up the Under-18 World Championship with Sweden this spring, piling up tournament bests with eight assists and 12 points in seven games. He was named the event’s top forward and helped his nation win gold. He also held his own in HockeyAllsvenskan’s, Sweden’s second-tier pro league, this past season playing against mature competition as a teenager, posting 11 goals and 21 points in 38 games. For perspective on what he did relative to age: he led the league in points among under-18 junior players, having started the 2025-26 campaign as a 17-year-old.
Hermansson’s silky puck skills give him potential to become a dangerous power-play contributor at the NHL level someday and, at 6-foot-1 and 183 pounds, he’s no water bug out there. He should be able to hold his own physically as he fills out. He’s a high-ceiling prospect because he complements his skating and playmaking with goal-scoring ability as well. His shot is deadly and accurate.
If there’s an area of his game that needs improvement, it’s his team contributions when he doesn’t have the puck.
“He isn’t as impactful as he needs to be when he’s not piling shots on net,” wrote DFO prospect analyst Steven Ellis last month. “I want to see more urgency when attacking opponents to regain possession.”
The development path has a wide range of outcomes for a player as naturally gifted as Hermansson. Because of his high skill, he has the ceiling to make an impact as a top-six NHL forward in short order, but because his two-way game isn’t up to snuff yet, his only way onto an NHL team will be a scoring line. That means he’s likely a couple years away.