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Milton Gästrin, Team Sweden (Photo by Leila Devlin/Getty Images)

Milton Gästrin – 2025 NHL Draft Prospect Profile

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Logan Horn | Last updated Apr 10, 2025 5:18 PM ET

Milton Gästrin

2024-25 Team: MoDo Hockey J20 (J20 Nationell)
Date of Birth: June 2, 2007
Place of Birth: Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
Height: 6-foot-1, Weight: 185 pounds
Shoots: Left
Position: Center
NHL Draft Eligibility: First Year Eligible

Rankings

Milton Gästrin is the next in a long line of talented hockey players to come out of the small town of Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, a town whose history includes players like the Sedin twins, Peter Forsberg, Victor Hedman, and many more.

Gästrin is a reliable two-way center who has been excellent offensively against his peers in Sweden, while still showing the defensive commitment to earn a handful of games in the SHL already early on in his career. He is a hard worker who skates well and has no clear weaknesses in his game.

The only limiting factor for him in the draft process will be the questions surrounding his ultimate offensive potential. If he doesn’t take much of a step forward offensively in the coming years, Gästrin would still likely become a long-time NHL contributor. However, some growth in his shot or skill with the puck could raise his ceiling considerably.

Gästrin has been the captain of his age group at the U16 and U17 levels, so it’s fair to predict he’ll be in a leadership role once again when he laces up for Sweden at the upcoming U18 World Championships. This tournament will give him a great chance to show off his offensive game against some more well-known players rather than in Sweden’s top junior league.

After scoring just 16 points in 41 J20 games last year, Gästrin has taken a huge step up, scoring 42 points in 40 games in his draft year. He also managed to earn a spot on his club’s SHL team for eight games. Since he has a June birthday, Gästrin has a bit of extra time to develop compared to many of his peers, and I think another year spent split between the J20 level and SHL next season (his age 18 year) will be a really positive move for him.

Milton Gästrin – NHL Draft Projection

I expect Gästrin to be in play from around the 25th overall pick until the 40th overall pick, as he’s a classic reliable center prospect that often goes in that range. A player like Gästrin would be enticing to a good NHL team with a late pick in the first round as someone who maybe doesn’t have the highest ceiling but who is a safe bet to become an NHL regular. Those are the same reasons he could be taken by a rebuilding team early in the second round to help stabilize their draft class a bit if they took a bigger swing on another pick in the first round.

Quotables

“The upside for Gastrin is a 2^nd line point producing forward, but he’ll most likely end up as a middle-six player”. Jordan Harris, Dobber Prospects

“It’s the translatability of his game that will attract NHL teams to him. He competes for loose pucks and wins battles in dirty areas of the ice. He offers a responsible and reliable game and is remarkably consistent.” – SpokedZ, Smaht Scouting

Strengths

Under Construction- Improvements to Make

NHL Potential

He’s unlikely to be a high-end offensive creator in the NHL, but I could see Gästrin becoming a really strong third-line center or middle-six winger someday. I think the highest ceiling for Gästrin is a second line center at the NHL level, and if a team believes he could be that then they will likely be taking a serious look at him later in the first round.

Risk- Reward Analysis

Risk- 2/5, Reward 3.5/5

Fantasy Hockey Potential

Offense- 6/10, Defense – 6/10