- Carolina signed defenseman William Hakansson to a three-year entry-level contract
- The 51st overall pick was the Hurricanes’ highest selection in the 2026 Draft
- Read below for the contract terms and what the Canes are getting in the young Swedish blueliner
The Carolina Hurricanes locked up another piece of their draft class on Wednesday.
Carolina signed defenseman William Hakansson to a three-year, entry-level contract. The Canes grabbed him 51st overall in the second round of last month’s draft, and he was the highest pick they made all weekend.
Here’s the team’s announcement:
The deal carries a $900,000 cap hit at the NHL level. Hakansson will earn $850,000 next season, $900,000 in 2027-28 and $950,000 in the final year, plus $288,000 in signing bonuses across the contract.
Carolina didn’t have a first-round pick this year. They shipped it to Nashville for a package of second-rounders, and the selection they used on Hakansson originally belonged to the Utah Mammoth.
The 18-year-old is a left-shot blueliner out of Solna, Sweden. He spent most of last season with Lulea HF in the SHL, holding his own against grown men with two assists and a plus-1 rating over 22 games. He also skated in nine playoff contests for Lulea.
Carolina loaned him to Almtuna in Sweden’s second tier for a stretch, where he picked up two goals and four points in 16 games. More ice time down a level did him some good.
Hakansson also brought home gold last winter. He suited up for Sweden at the World Junior Championship and put up two assists in seven games as the Swedes beat Czechia in the final.
He joins a Carolina pipeline that just added fellow young defenseman Aleksi Heimosalmi on a new deal, giving the reigning Cup champs a fresh crop of blue-line prospects to develop.
