Top 2026 NHL Draft prospect Viggo Björck earns trust and opportunity for a reason

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota – Viggo Björck doesn’t look like your prototypical top prospect.

He’s undersized, yet plays the middle of the ice. His game is not predicated on pure speed. He’s not physically imposing. And historically, players of his size face long odds staying at centre in the NHL, let alone doing it in a top-six role.

Yet everywhere Björck goes, he earns trust and opportunity.

At 5-foot-9, he’s done it at every junior level in Sweden. He’s done it as a teenager in the SHL. And now he is doing it at the World Juniors, where he has demanded and earned more responsibility on a team full of older and more physically mature players.

The common theme with Björck is intelligence and reliability. Coaches trust him because the game rarely catches him off guard.

That trust is showing up in major ways at this event. Björck has been leaned on heavily by Sweden in defensive situations, including extended penalty killing shifts and even five-on-three scenarios. He has also moved up to the first power play unit, taking the spot of Ivar Stenberg, the draft-eligible forward who has drawn much of the attention in Sweden and globally this season.

Björck has three goals and five points in four games. He's been given time on both special teams while handling the responsibilities of playing centre. Those roles don’t overlap unless a coaching staff believes the player can handle them.

“He is an incredibly reliable player, and a talented player, too,” said Sweden head coach Magnus Hävelid. “He’s skilled, takes great responsibility at both ends, and loves to play these types of close matches, too. He makes us as a team significantly better, too.”

Björck’s response to that role was simple.

“At the end of the day, it’s just hockey,” he said. “We want to win, and you have to make the most of the opportunity when you get to play.”

That mindset has followed him for years.

Before Björck ever arrived at the World Juniors, he had already rewritten Sweden’s junior record books.

Last season, he broke the all-time U20 Nationell points record when he produced 27 goals and 74 points in 42 games. He did it as a 16-year-old, often playing against opponents three years older. No one that young had ever driven offence at that level over a full season.

The year before, he had done the same thing at J18 level. In 2023-24, Björck scored 33 goals and 98 points in just 36 games, shattering the J18 Region all-time points record by more than 25 points.

He was 15 years old.

Those seasons were not built on power or speed. They were built on anticipation, timing, and decision-making. Björck consistently arrives early to space. He protects pucks well beyond what his frame suggests. And he plays with a level of confidence and compete that meshes extremely well with his high skill level.

That combination is what has earned him SHL minutes as a draft-eligible.

Earlier this season, Björck signed a contract extension with Djurgårdens IF through the 2026–27 season, confirming that he will spend his draft-plus-one year in the SHL. For a player his age, that commitment matters.

“Viggo has stepped up and made his mark in the SHL in a fantastic way, impressing everyone,” said Djurgården sporting director Niklas Wikegård. “We know the level of talent he possesses, and it feels great that he will continue his development under the Djurgården banner for at least this season and the next.”

That decision also provides important context for his evaluation. Björck is being challenged. He is not forming bad habits by playing massive junior minutes. He’s learning the professional game early and doing it in an environment that demands responsibility.

Inside Djurgården’s room, that has not gone unnoticed.

Team captain, Marcus Krüger, a veteran center with over 500 NHL games, two Stanley Cup rings, an Olympic silver medal and a World Championship title, has been struck by Björck’s maturity.

“He usually makes the right decision,” Krüger told Elite Prospects earlier this season. “Just his hockey smarts. He usually makes the right play. Being in the right area, all of that. It comes natural for him. How mature he plays.”

That description aligns with how Björck’s teammates see him.

Victor Eklund, a first-round selection by the New York Islanders in 2025, did not hesitate when asked about Björck’s standing among draft-eligible players.

“For me, he’s clearly top five,” Eklund said. “He’s not the biggest player, but he’s strong and smart, and it’s gonna take him far.”

That strength shows up most clearly in puck battles.

2025 third-overall selection, Anton Frondell, is a beast on the ice. Standing 6-foot-1 and weighing 205-lbs, he’s had a physical advantage on the ice for most of his young career. Yet, Frondell pointed to Björck’s puck protection when asked what he would steal from his teammate.

“He’s so strong on the puck,” Frondell said. “He’s not the tallest guy, but he’s so hard to take the puck against.”

Björck himself is aware of the skepticism that follows smaller centres, especially in defensive situations.

“The things I’ve heard, being a little bit of a smaller player,” he said. “Still, the defensive part, I believe I can compete and dominate in my own corners and win pucks for my team.”

That belief has translated into usage. Sweden has trusted him to kill penalties. Djurgården has trusted him in tight games. Coaches continue to put him on the ice when the margins are thin.

From a draft perspective, that trust matters as much as raw production.

5-foot-9 centres face steep odds in the NHL. Staying in the middle of the ice is difficult, and doing it as a top-six player is even harder. Right now, the list of players who meet that description is short, with Marco Rossi, Logan Stankoven, and Yanni Gourde among the most notable names playing in this current NHL season. Those players provide the clearest historical context for Björck’s projection.

Like Rossi and Stankoven, Björck is compact and strong. He is not shy about playing through traffic. He will engage physically along the walls. He does not drift to the perimeter to avoid contact.

One NHL scout summarized it this way.

“I think what those little guys (Rossi and Stankoven) prove is that the one non-negotiable thing a player like that has got to have is compete,” the scout said. “You watch Viggo, and the brain is there, the mitts are there. Yeah, the boots aren’t as quick as you’d like, but he’s fearless. He’ll never be confused for Tom Wilson, but he’s in the battle. He works. He’ll body up and play on the wall. I don’t think you have to worry as much about him not being able to do it against NHLers at his size because he’s already showing he can play a more pro-style offensive game.”

That said, there is a clear separator between Björck and his closest stylistic comparables.

Rossi entered his draft year as a high-end skater. Elite Prospects scouts graded his skating a seven in 2020, representing a first-line calibre mover.

Björck's skating, while improved from last season, projects closer to the average. His straight-line speed and first-step quickness remain areas of focus.

That is the question scouts continue to come back to.

“He’s a player we’ve watched closely, as there’s a good chance he’s in our range,” said one NHL executive. “The question is, will he be able to stay at centre at his size and if he can get to pucks quickly enough. We love his decision-making and ability to create.”

Those questions will follow Björck all the way to draft day and beyond. But they exist alongside a growing body of evidence that he compensates for his limitations in other ways.

His puck skills and play-creation are plus-rated. He processes the game extremely quickly. He anticipates where the puck is going, not where it has been. And he has shown, repeatedly, that he can hold his own physically against older competition.

At the World Juniors, that combination has allowed him to outshine more heralded peers. Moving ahead of Stenberg on the power play was not symbolic. It was earned.

One NHL executive put it more bluntly.

“He’s a stud. IQ. Skill. Size won’t matter.”

That does not guarantee success. The room for error is small. But for teams willing to bet on hockey sense, competitiveness, skill, and trustworthiness in pressure situations, Björck has made his case louder with every stride.

He keeps earning minutes. He keeps earning responsibility. And he keeps earning belief. At his size, that might be the most important skill of all.