Viggo Björck is an 18-year-old Swedish centre who signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Winnipeg Jets on 13 July 2026, after being drafted eighth overall that June — the Jets’ highest selection since they took Patrik Laine second in 2016. He has left Djurgårdens IF for North America and is competing for an NHL roster spot at training camp.
| Current team | Winnipeg Jets |
| Position | Centre, also right wing |
| Shoots | Right |
| Born | 12 March 2008, Stockholm, Sweden |
| Height / weight | 5’9″ (175 cm) / 180 lbs |
| Drafted | 2026, first round, 8th overall, Winnipeg Jets |
| Contract | Three-year entry-level deal, $1,075,000 cap hit, signed 13 July 2026 |
What records does Viggo Björck hold in Sweden?
Two, both set before he turned 17. As a 15-year-old with IFK Täby he scored 98 points in 36 J18 Region games, leading the league in goals, assists and points. The following season, at 16 and now with Djurgården, he put up 74 points in 42 games in J20 Nationell, the top junior league in Sweden, and set a scoring record there too.
Then he did something more unusual than either. At 18, Björck played the men’s World Championship for Sweden and finished fourth on the team in scoring, with six points in eight games, playing as a first-line centre. Very few players reach that tournament at that age; fewer still produce there.
What are Viggo Björck’s career stats?
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | IFK Täby | J18 Region | 36 | 33 | 65 | 98 |
| 2024-25 | Djurgårdens IF | J20 Nationell | 42 | 27 | 47 | 74 |
| 2024-25 | Djurgårdens IF | HockeyAllsvenskan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2025-26 | Djurgårdens IF | SHL | 42 | 6 | 9 | 15 |
He scored on his HockeyAllsvenskan debut, in his only game at that level. He added three points in three SHL playoff games in 2025-26, and won junior national championships in both J18 and J20 in his first season at Djurgården, then a second J20 title the year after.
What did Viggo Björck do at the World Juniors?
He won it. Sweden beat Czechia 4-2 in the final on 6 January 2026 in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, with Björck contributing two assists in the gold-medal game and nine points across seven games. It was Sweden’s third World Junior gold in history — after 1981 and 2012 — and its first in 14 years.
He was moved onto Sweden’s first power-play unit during the tournament, ahead of Ivar Stenberg, who would go second overall in the draft six months later, and was used on the penalty kill and at five-on-three.
His other international results: silver at the 2025 U18 World Championship with eight points in seven games, bronze at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, bronze at the U17 World Challenge, and gold at TV-Pucken, where he led the tournament in assists and points.
Who is Viggo Björck’s brother?
Wilson Björck, two years older, drafted 143rd overall by the Vancouver Canucks in 2025 and now at Colorado College. The brothers followed the same path — IFK Täby, then Djurgården, then North America — and won World Junior gold together for Sweden in January 2026.
Wilson described the competition between them to The Hockey News: “Always having someone with the same mindset, and growing up with a two-year younger brother, always wanting to win the competition, has always been there. It could be anything — like basketball, out in the garden… even though we had some tough times, we always find each other. Best friends.”
On watching Viggo get drafted eighth overall: “I wasn’t able to be there my draft year, and to be able to experience that through my brother was pretty cool.”
Is Viggo Björck too small for the NHL?
It is the question that followed him through the draft, and he has answered it directly: “The things I’ve heard, being a little bit of a smaller player. Still, the defensive part, I believe I can compete and dominate in my own corners and win pucks for my team.”
The people who coached him make the same argument from the other side. Djurgården captain Marcus Krüger, who played 400 NHL games with Chicago: “He usually makes the right decision. Just his hockey smarts. He usually makes the right play. Being in the right area, all of that. It comes natural to him. How mature he plays.”
Sweden’s junior head coach Magnus Hävelid: “He is an incredibly reliable player, and a talented player, too. He’s skilled, takes great responsibility at both ends, and loves to play these types of close matches.”
And Anton Frondell, the third pick of the 2025 draft, who has played against him since childhood: “He’s so strong on the puck. He’s not the tallest guy, but he’s so hard to take the puck against.”
Will Viggo Björck play for the Jets this season?
Undecided, and it is the reason to follow Winnipeg’s camp. The Jets have said he will compete for a roster spot; the alternative is the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. Analysts have projected him as a possible third-line centre, and The Athletic ranks him fifth on the organisation’s centre depth chart.
General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff’s description of him is the most quoted thing anyone has said about Björck: “Viggo is a special player, just a real special talent. The things that jump off the page are first and foremost, his compete. He’s one of those guys when you go watch him play, you become a fan, you’re not a scout anymore.”
Djurgården’s sporting director Marcus Due-Boje was more wistful when the club announced the split in July: they respected his decision, he said, though they would gladly have seen him in Djurgården one more season.
He is in the Winnipeg Jets organization after signing a three-year entry-level contract on July 13, 2026 and leaving Djurgårdens IF. He will either make the Jets roster or start with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose — nothing has been announced. He is AHL-eligible at 18 because he was drafted out of Europe rather than the CHL.
Wilson Björck, born in 2006, a forward drafted 143rd overall by the Vancouver Canucks in 2025 who plays at Colorado College. Their father Jesper Björck was also a professional player.
He stands 175 cm tall, or 5’9″, and weighs 180 lbs. Being undersized is the defining line in every scouting report on him.
His three-year entry-level contract carries a $1,075,000 cap hit.
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