The Anaheim Ducks held their annual development camp from June 30 to July 2. This year’s camp was shorter than the last couple of years, typically a five-day camp concluding with a 3v3 scrimmage.
The camp is used more as an instrument that allows newly drafted prospects to familiarize themselves with the organization, meet staff and potential future teammates, and take a nugget or two back home to train for the summer before rookie camp begins in Sept.
Though most of the drills are done at half or three-quarter speed and don’t necessarily simulate game situations, players were available to the media, and there were on-ice takeaways to be had from each player.
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The Anaheim Ducks selected a Swedish center with their first second-round pick in each of the last two drafts. A year ago in Las Vegas, they drafted Lucas Pettersson (35th overall in 2024) from MoDo Hockey, and this year in Los Angeles, they drafted Eric Nilson (45th in ’25) from Djurgårdens IF.
On paper and in their current stages of development, these two players present very similar profiles: detail-oriented, cerebral, two-way centers. Both have been compared at the time of their drafts to former Ducks second-round pick William Karlsson (53rd in ’11).
Although similar in many respects, they have distinct tendencies and attributes that can and will distinguish them from each other, and their roads to the NHL will look very different.
Pettersson bounced around three different levels of Swedish hockey last season: J20 Nationell (Sweden’s junior division), HockeyAllsvenskan (second tier), and the SHL (top professional division).
He had surpassed the skill level of J20, wasn’t deployed in steady top-nine minutes in the SHL, but fit in nicely in HockeyAllsvenskan when on loan with Ostersunds IK.
“A little bit up and down, all over the place. Especially the first half of the season,” Pettersson said of his season. “The second half was good. I got to settle down in Allsvenskan, played a lot of minutes, and found my game. So that was great for me.”
To date, Pettersson is and has been the more offensively gifted and inclined between him and Nilson. He displays an elevated understanding of how to break down not only the defender in front of him, but the opposing defensive structure as a whole.
He’s at his best in transition, supporting pucks through the defensive zone on breakouts, building speed through the neutral zone, and making proper reads in the middle of the ice when it comes time to building plays and deciphering whether to maintain possession with above-average puck skills, cleverly dish to a teammate with a better path for entry, or simply chip pucks below the goal line to establish a forecheck.
He has an understanding and capability to shield pucks from defenders and exhibits vision and quality hands in small areas of the ice at a level beyond his experience.
Pettersson will remain in Sweden to play in the SHL for the 2025-26 season, joining former long-tenured Anaheim Ducks forward and reigning SHL MVP Jakob Silfverberg.
“I think he found a good fit for him. I think he's going to be really well surrounded in Brynäs,” Ducks director of amateur scouting and assistant general manager Martin Madden told The Hockey News. “Yes, it's going to be in the SHL again, so he will need to earn his ice time, but I think he's better prepared for it now. He's had to deal with that tough first year.
“You’re 17 years old, you're not the physically strongest kid yet. Now he's got a full summer without all the pre-draft stuff that you need to deal with when you're going through the draft. So now he's got a full, long summer to hit the gym to work himself into the type of shape, physically strong to be able to deal with men in the SHL next year. I think he's in a good spot. He's going to be well surrounded by Silfverberg for sure.”
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Nilson played the majority of his 2024-25 season in the J20 Nationell division with Djurgårdens IF and had a brief, four-game appearance with the club at the HockeyAllsvenskan level.
He was a two-way force, playing in all situations for Djurgardens’ U20 team, finishing fifth on the team in regular season scoring with 38 points (12-26=38) in 37 games, and third in postseason scoring with 13 points (6-7=13) in nine games, en route to a league championship.
Between him and Pettersson, Nilson is the more defensively inclined and impactful player. His diagnosis of plays off-puck and relentless motor combine to render him a pest to play against and one who can turn an opponent’s mistake with the puck into a quick strike opportunity the other way.
What stands out most about Nilson when watching him shift-by-shift or in a camp setting like Anaheim’s development camp is how effortless his motions are without being lackadaisical. His edges are elite, and he’s in full control at all times, ready to explode out of turns. Similarly, in shooting drills, he elegantly yet instantaneously and deceptively leans on his stick and gets off a lightning-quick and powerful release.
Nilson will make the jump to North America in 2025-26 to play for Michigan State University, citing a desire to gain necessary strength and an understanding of the North American game.
“It’s different than how we play in Sweden,” Nilson said of deciding to play in the NCAA next season. “(I’m looking to improve my) physicality, to get bigger and stronger.”
Madden reflected similar sentiments for Nilson, who came into the draft listed at 6-foot and 166 pounds.
“He reminds us a lot of William Karlsson at the same age,” Madden said. “Really smart, really competitive, great skill, great edge work, he’s also 165 pounds. So he’s got some work to do in the gym, and he understands that, and 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 kind of 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.”
With Pettersson and Nilson now in the Ducks organization, one can’t help but be reminded of when they had another pair of Swedish centers in the pipeline over a decade ago: Rickard Rakell and the aforementioned William Karlsson.
Both Rakell and Karlsson were (and are) detail-oriented players who impact both ends of the ice. Rakell proved to be the one more offensively inclined, while Karlsson has become one of the NHL’s premier shutdown centers.
It will be fascinating to see how their individual developments progress from where they’re at currently, but with their high hockey IQs and commitment to the 200-foot game, it would be surprising to see either of them not make it as full-time NHL players and could even provide tremendous two-way depth for what’s shaping up to be a potent future Anaheim Ducks roster.
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Photo Credit: Derek Lee-The Hockey News
