Anaheim Ducks prospect Lucas Pettersson may have a new home for the 2025-26 season. Mattias Persson from hockeynews.se, a Swedish hockey outlet, reported that sources indicate Pettersson will join Brynas IF in the SHL next season.
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“Several SHL clubs have shown interest in Pettersson, but according to information provided to Hockeynews, the 19-year-old center has now reached an agreement with Brynäs,” Persson wrote (translated from Swedish). “Sources state that the parties reached an agreement in the past few days, and the transfer is expected to become official after the season.”
Pettersson is a product of MoDo Hockey, where he’d played for five seasons before he was drafted in June.
The Ducks selected Pettersson in the second round (35th overall in 2024) at last year’s NHL Entry Draft. He’s a terrific skater who plays a technical two-way game, but also displays offensive upside with his change-of-pace attacks and cerebral breakdowns of opposing defensive structures.
He played at three separate levels in Swedish hockey in 2024-25, playing too well for the J20 Nationell level but found it difficult to carve out a role in the SHL with MoDo. He scored eight points (4-4=8) in eight J20 games but just one point (0-1=1) in 29 SHL games while playing limited minutes.
Pettersson was loaned to Ostersunds IK of HockeyAllsvenskan (Sweden’s second-tier professional division) on five separate occasions throughout the season. He finished the season with 19 points (9-10=19) in 26 games with Ostersunds and saw his game truly take off upon his final loan, where he scored 18 points (8-10=18) in his final 18 games with the club.
MoDo had a poor season in 2024-25, finishing 13th out of 14 teams and losing a relegation battle with HV71, finding themselves ultimately destined for HockeyAllsvenskan in 2025-26.
If the transfer goes through, Pettersson will likely join Brynas next season, a team currently up 1-0 in the SHL finals against Lulea. Brynas’ roster features several former members of the Ducks organization, including Jakob Silfverberg, Jack Kopacka, Christian Djoos, and Axel Andersson.
With the SHL/NHL agreement in place, the Ducks will have the right to sign Pettersson to an ELC at any point and bring him to North America to start his professional career with either the San Diego Gulls of the AHL or the Ducks in the NHL. Pettersson would have to thoroughly impress at the Ducks' 2025 development and rookie camps to force their hand in that scenario.
Pettersson was also selected in the CHL Imports Draft (116th in ’24) by the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL. So that remains an option for him as well for next season. The Ducks and Pettersson’s camp will ultimately determine what they feel is best for him and his development.
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