FN’s 2026 Flames summer prospect rankings – HM: Axel Hurtig

When it comes to hockey, figuring out your strengths and weaknesses can often make a career. For a lot of players, much of the early portion of their high-level playing days are spent trying to figure out their identity or playing style as they move up the ladder.

Well, that’s not a problem for Swedish blueliner Axel Hurtig. As he graduates from the Western Hockey League’s Calgary Hitmen after a season spent as their captain, he heads into the brave new world of pro hockey with a pretty strong grasp of what he does well and who he is as a player.

He landed outside of our Top 20 this year, but he’s quietly been having a pretty good run over the past few seasons.

Axel Hurtig

Defenceman; shoots left
Born June 10, 2005 (age 21) in Högås, Sweden
6’5″, 216 pounds
Drafted in the seventh round (208th overall) by Calgary in the 2023 NHL Draft

A product of Högås, a smaller town in southwestern Sweden, Hurtig is from a hockey family. His father, Bjarne, played second and third-tier pro hockey in Sweden during the 1990s and early 2000s, and moved into coaching after that. His older brother, Arvid, is headed into his fourth full pro season in Sweden in 2026-27, where he’ll be with Vimmerby HC in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan. (Both his dad and brother are defencemen.)

Being part of a hockey family undoubtedly helps, but the impressive thing with Hurtig’s game is his consistency and self-awareness. A lot of players have big “What do I do with my hands?” energy as they move up the ladder, as they try to figure out how they can be successful at higher levels. As Hurtig has progressed and gotten into new situations, he’s leaned on his strengths: his physical tools, physicality, defensive awareness, and his ability to use positioning and his stick to defend effectively.

Since being drafted by the Flames in 2023 – coming off a shoulder injury that required surgery that off-season – Hurtig spent 2023-24 with his junior club team, Rögle BK, and made his pro debut with a handful of SHL games with Rögle’s senior team and a handful of games on loan to the third-tier HockeyEttan, where he played with Kristianstads IK. He posted 11 points in 27 games in Sweden’s top junior league, zero points in the SHL, and one assist in HockeyEttan.

He made the move across the Atlantic Ocean for 2024-25, joining the Hitmen as an import after being selected in the CHL Import Draft the year prior. Moving to a new country, to play in a new league and playing on the smaller North American ice for the first time, there was a lot of stuff that Hurtig had to adjust to all at once. It’s tough to imagine him adapting any better than he did. He figured out how to defend in the Dub really quickly and carved out an identity pretty rapidly as a mean, physical shutdown defender. He even made Team Sweden’s roster for the World Juniors.

In 2025-26, Hurtig returned to the Hitmen for his overage season. He probably could’ve played on the Wranglers, and his play during Flames training camp earned him praise from head coach Ryan Huska. But the Wranglers’ blueline group looked pretty full, so Hurtig returned to the Dub and ended up having another pretty dang good season. He was named the Hitmen’s captain early in the season, and he was leaned on heavily by the new coaching staff to provide consistency and continuity for a pretty young team.

In two years with the Hitmen, Hurtig played in four playoff series, had 11 goals and 35 points in 119 regular season games, and had a plus-60 plus/minus. He wasn’t an offensive powerhouse on the blueline, but given his role, he gave the Hitmen a lot of good hockey.

Our pal Derek Neumeier, from McKeen’s Hockey, shared some thoughts with us on Hurtig’s progression:

Hurtig has a nice season with the Hitmen. He’s a real Steady Eddie on the back end, and you could tell how he kept growing into his leadership role as the captain of that team. That’s a definite perk. His game is still a little too vanilla for me overall… for a shutdown defenceman I wish he was a better skater and/or had more snarl. Maybe he can eventually become the 6D or 7D for the Flames one day, but if not, he’ll be a good culture guy for the Wranglers that is worth keeping around.

Expectations for 2026-27

Hurtig signed his entry-level deal with the Flames back on Mar. 31. He’s 21 and he’s entirely played out his junior eligibility. He’s going to be playing professional hockey in the Flames system this coming season.

If we’re being honest, we’re not entirely sure what to expect because it’s been awhile since a pure defensive defender has joined the Flames system at a young age. The most recent examples are likely Ilya Solovyov in 2021-22 and Yan Kuznetsov in 2022-23. Both avoided spending time in the ECHL, but did occasionally slide out of the lineup from time to time. Neither produced a ton offensively, but that wasn’t really their role.

Hurtig was able to adjust to the WHL pretty quickly, but he did so as a man-sized player defending against kids. In the AHL, everyone will be stronger and faster, and we’ll see if Hurtig’s defending is up to the increased pace and skill level he’ll be seeing. A successful first pro year for Hurtig would be one where he adjusts to the AHL, finds a rhythm, and is able to build an identity into his game in the same way he did in the WHL.

As a seventh-rounder, Hurtig was a long-shot to get an entry-level deal. But he earned that opportunity, and as the Flames farm system becomes more and more crowded and competitive over the next few years, it’ll be fascinating to see if he can keep building his game and carving out a role.