Jacob Ragnarsson is an American born defenceman of Swedish descent who was a regular in the Allsvenskan this year.

The son of former NHLer Marcus Ragnarsson, Jacob may be one of the most underrated prospects of this draft class as he isn’t really noted in many public rankings and landed as the 44th best European skater according to NHL Central Scouting Services.

He appeared in a couple games for the Swedish National Team throughout the season but wasn’t a regular defenceman for any of the major tournaments.

Ragnarsson provides an interesting skill set and could provide some value later in the draft.

*there are some issues with the table above and will be updated once the raw data has been pulled again*

Ragnarsson left his defensive counterparts behind in terms of 5v5 eP60, busy hanging out with his friends in the forward ranks. His GF% isn’t noteworthy but in line with the majority of the other defenceman that he played with regularly. He saw some results that were positive in terms of WOWY and some that were a bit of a drag. His production did dip as the season went on as Almtuna leaned on him more for 5v5 play.

Based on his production alone, 12.7% of comparable players went onto becoming NHL regulars – the successful players were Anton Stralman and Philip Larsen and then a bunch of misses.

Ragnarsson is a player that you won’t see ranked in many other public rankings but he posted some interesting numbers in the Allsvenskan.

Almtuma was a middle of the pack team but Ragnarsson was a huge part of their play to close out the year. He was used in all situations and excelled defensively as the season went on. He wasn’t afforded very much powerplay time with 100% of his points coming at 5v5.

The left handed defender struggled to put up points in the larger role but still finished with a GF% around 55% and limited chances against. Ragnarsson has put up points through his junior career, so the lack of offence to close out the season isn’t overly concerning and is understandable given the adjusted role to close out the year.

He possesses a good wrist shot that he can lean into and is able to get that space due to his fluid skating.

In the defensive zone, he is active with the puck, willing to skate it out when needed and pressuring opponents with his long reach and active feet.

His pGPS presents a lower success rate but as mentioned in multiple profiles about the SHL before, being a regular in the Allsvenskan is generally a good indicator of higher success rates. It’s also worth adding that Detroit Red Wings prospect Gustav Lindstrom was taken in the 2nd round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft after posting 9 points in 48 games with Almtuna last season. Given the change in role, his two-way skill set, and underrated offensive game – Ragnarsson might be a player we see taken earlier than people expected and with some patience could develop into a two-way defender in the NHL.