The Toronto Maple Leafs have selected defenceman Victor Johansson from Leksands IF J20 of J20 Nationell in Sweden with the 120th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.
The newest member of Leafs Nation: Victor Johansson 🍁 pic.twitter.com/qHs7zi2VUm
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) June 29, 2024
A left-handed defenceman listed at 6-foot-1 and 158 pounds according to Leksands’ official website. He recorded eight points in 34 games for Leksands IF in Sweden’s Junior league.
It was the Maple Leafs’ first pick since they took to the podium on Friday night and selected Oshawa Generals defenceman Ben Danford with their first round pick at 31st overall. That pick came in a deal with the Anaheim Ducks, who traded up to 23rd overall to select Norwegian defenceman Stian Solberg.
There is very little on Johansson out there, in the name of full transparency. He wasn’t ranked by NHL Central Scouting and hasn’t played any pro games yet, nor has he represented his country internationally. This was an unexpected pick by the Maple Leafs, and frankly, it seems to be a surprising community as well. There’s very little publicly listed detail about Johansson, so perhaps that speaks volumes about Wes Clark and his staff’s proprietary rankings and in-house data.
The presence of Thommie Bergman on the scouting staff is a big one. In an optimistic light from a fan’s standpoint, the Leafs have been good at unearthing talent in the middle rounds from Sweden in the past. Names like Andreas Johnsson and Pierre Engvall come to mind, who despite not carving out much of a career with the Leafs, have made more of a footprint in the league than most players drafted in those middle rounds do. Not to mention the amount of star power the organization has produced from Sweden, including Mats Sundin and more recently, William Nylander.
The Maple Leafs’ next pick will be at 152nd overall, where they’ll pick back-t0-back at 151 and 152, and then again at 157.
