After promising to remain in Sweden, a Winnipeg Jets top prospect is headed to North America instead.
According to Martin Jansson of hockeysverige.se, Alfons Freij is set to play under the Jets organization this upcoming season, following this year’s development camp. The 20-year-old defenseman ended his 2025-26 season with Timrå IK on loan; he scored 11 points in 42 SHL games. Freij added seven assists in seven games at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championships en route to helping Sweden win gold at the event as a third-pair defender while running their power-play.
The Jets then sent him to AHL Manitoba in March to finish his season, where he played five games after Timrå’s campaign concluded.
His point totals in Sweden this past year were second among U20 defensemen in the SHL, only to Leo Sahlin Wallenius’s 13 points with the Växjö Lakers HC.
“The plan was for me to stay another year and get ready while at Timrå. I had two years left on my contract and intended to stay; I was fully prepared for that. Then I went over for the development camp and had meetings with the GM, the coach, and so on, said Freij in the article, “They made it clear they wanted me playing over there—that it was the best path for me to achieve my goals and dreams.
You can’t say no to that.”
Formerly taken 37th overall in the second round of the 2024 NHL Draft, Freij has been known as a deceptive, shifty defenseman with a puck-moving ability that makes it difficult for opponents to challenge him. After the draft, his original club in J20, Växjö, chose not to retain him on their main roster and loaned him to IF Björkloven. Last summer was when he made it with Timrå, signing a two-year contract with the club and soon enough becoming a developing offensive contributor at such a young age.
Not long after, in June, he signed his entry-level contract with the Jets, a three-year deal that begins next season, due to it sliding because of his playing overseas. The Sölvesborg native will make nearly $3MM ($965K AAV), where the deal will expire in 2029, after his age 23 season.
The obvious is that Freij is set to compete in training camp for an NHL role, but that is unlikely considering what Winnipeg already has on their blue line in left-shot defensemen like Josh Morrissey, Dylan Samberg, as well as Mario Ferraro and Haydn Fleury. While his offensive game is his strength, his defense will be the area that needs to round itself out as he develops further in the AHL.
He projects as the youngest defenseman on Manitoba’s roster currently.
Photo Credit: Joel Marklund, BILDBYRÅN