Swedish forwards and Swiss goalie earn World Junior selections. See which Anaheim Ducks prospects will play on the international stage.
The 2026 IIHF World Junior Championships are scheduled to be held between Dec. 26 and Jan. 5 in St. Paul and Minneapolis, MN. Nations have been slowly rolling out their projected or preliminary rosters over the past week.
As of Friday, three Anaheim Ducks prospects have been announced to their respective nations’ rosters: Swedish centers Lucas Pettersson and Eric Nilson, along with Swiss goaltender Elijah Neuenschwander.
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Lucas Pettersson
The Ducks selected Pettersson with the 35th pick of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. He was the first Swedish player taken in last year’s draft.
Pettersson, a product of MoDo Hockey, played the majority of the 2024-25 season alternating between playing for MoDo in the SHL and on loan for Ostersunds IK of HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier professional league. He tallied just an assist in 29 SHL games last year, but was much more successful with more playing time for Ostersunds, where he scored 19 points (9-10=19) in 26 games.
He was loaned to Brynas IF of the SHL for the 2025-26 season, where he was set to join the league’s reigning runners-up, a squad that includes former long-time Anaheim Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg, Washington Capitals legend Niklas Backstrom, former Ducks prospects Axel Andersson and Jack Kopaka, and current Ducks goaltending prospect and announced Italian Olympian Damian Clara.
“A lot of Ducks players. Overall, it’s a great environment for me to play with those guys,” Pettersson said, looking ahead to his season when at Ducks’ development camp in July. “I doesn’t matter where you’re playing, up and down the lineup, if you’re getting minutes, it will be in a good environment. It’s a good team who can really let young guys through. That was the main thing.”
Pettersson has been playing on the wing this season for Brynas, but is a natural, smooth, two-way center who is detail-oriented and possesses an NHL-level toolkit. He’s never out of position defensively and can build, connect, and finish plays on the offensive side of the puck.
Eric Nilson
The Ducks selected Nilson with the 45th pick of the 2025 draft, a pick they acquired along with a 2026 fourth-round pick and Ryan Poehling when they shipped Trevor Zegras to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Nilson was selected out of Djurgardens IF, where he played the majority of the 2024-25 season in the J20 Nationell, Sweden’s top junior division. Last season, he scored 38 points (12-26=38) in 37 games at the J20 level and added 13 points (6-7=13) in nine playoff games.
“We got our guy at 45,” Ducks director of amateur scouting and assistant general manager Martin Madden said after the draft. “He reminds us a lot of William Karlsson at the same age: really, really smart, really competitive, great skill, great edge work, and he’s 165 pounds. So he’s got some work to do in the gym, and he understands that. That’s why he’s taking the path to go to Michigan State.
“He wanted to get the best program off the ice. That was his focus, and we agree he’s going to a great spot for him. He’s a good two-way player. He’s the first off the bench on the PK, he’s on the first power play unit for the national team. He’s a hockey player.”
Unlike Pettersson, Nilson decided to make the jump to North America to play in the NCAA for Michigan State, playing alongside NHL prospects like Trey Augustine, Porter Martone, Cayden Lindstrom, and Charlie Stramel. He’s playing more of a defensive role in his Freshman season, but has managed to tally six points (3-3=6) in 15 games thus far in 2025-26.
Elijah Neuenschwander
The Ducks typically like to select at least one goalie in each draft, if they can. In 2025, they chose Swiss goaltender Neuenschwander with the 104th overall pick in the fourth round.
Neuenschwander played the majority of his draft season for HC Fribourg-Gotteron’s U21 team. He played nine games on loan in Switzerland’s second-tier professional league for EHC Chur, where he posted a 6-2-1 record and .909 SV%.
This will be his second time playing in the World Juniors, as he represented Switzerland in 2025, where he posted a 0-3-0 record and an .817 SV%.
“Very similar profile to Damien (Clara),” Madden said after the Neuenschwander’s selection. “Big, lanky, still physically developing kid. Really poised goaltender, good overall hockey sense, ability to track the puck. He will get the opportunity to keep getting better on the international stage. He’s already in the program with the Swiss U20s. He was there this year.
“(Our scouts) love this kid. They saw him play a lot. They've spoken with him on numerous occasions during the year that they love his personality, the way he's willing to learn, adopt his game, and understands that it's going to be a longer process, and we've got a long run away with him. Really excited to have Elijah on board.”
Neuenschwander has played this season, again, with EHC Chur, where he’s recorded a 4-3-0 record, a .901 SV%, and one shutout.
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