A Look at Sweden’s Four Best Offerings on the Blue Line at the 2020 NHL Draft

The EliteProspects Draft Guide has Helge Grans (No. 19) as the best Swedish draft-eligible defenceman, by far. But it wasn’t always like that. On EliteProspects’ first 2020 Draft Board, Emil Andrae was No. 22, and William Wallinder was No. 25 – with Grans outside of the first-round altogether.

Grans promptly leapt the other Andrae and Wallinder in our previous two rankings, beginning a steady slide down the board for the latter two, and surge for the former. By the final ranking in August, Wallinder had slid to No. 47, while Andrae slid to No. 52

The tumble of Wallinder and Andrae coincided with the rise of Anton Johannesson (No. 50), a slight defender who missed the first half of the season. Partnered with Andrae on HV71’s J20 squad, Johannesson’s precision playmaking took away important