BREAKING: Sharks Pick Axel Landén at No. 130

NASHVILLE — The San Jose Sharks have selected defenseman Axel Landén, a right-shot defenseman out of HV71 in the Swedish J20 league with the pick at #130.

The San Jose Sharks had selected their first defender of the draft, Luca Cagnoni, just seven picks earlier. While Cagnoni is known as an undersized offensive defenseman, Landen is known as a physical presence, coming in at 6’1″ and 183 pounds. Landen had 10 goals, 6 assists for 16 points in 44 games in the J20 league this season.

From the Elite Prospects draft guide:

While his overall defensive game still needs some cleaning up related to his positioning and reads, his competence in man-to-man situations will be instantly translatable…The tools aren’t that noteworthy, but he’s physically active, engages in battles with purpose and has solid understanding on how to gain leverage and establish body positioning, pin players down along the boards”

Landen was not in EP’s top-136 rankings.

It is expected that Landen will return to HV71 in Sweden next season.

Landen said that he is coming to San Jose Sharks development camp.