STIAN SOLBERG

2026-06-08

Scout: Kendrick Daly

Defense

Anaheim Ducks

23 Overall by the Anaheim Ducks (2024 NHL Entry Draft)

Skating:

Solberg is an average skater. Leverages his strong edges and exceptional turning to cover some key weaknesses. Solberg needs a lot of clear ice to hit his top speed and lacks explosiveness in his first step. Compensating for poor backwards skating with his edgework/turning mostly works at lower levels, but I’d worry about his long-term NHL prospects without real improvement there.

Passing/Handling:

Solberg is a poor puck handler. He’s weak against the boards and gets overwhelmed in open ice. Very jittery under pressure. The passing is good if he’s in open ice though, sharp and accurate. Decision speed will have to improve if he doesn’t want to take contact.

Shooting:

Solberg is a good shooter and acts like it when he has the puck. Release is slow but generates deceptive velocity. He’s capable of beating goalies 1:1 and can hit the net from the DZ in 5-on-6 situations for some scoring upside.

IQ (Vision, Anticipation, Panic/Poise):

Solberg is a generally smart hockey player with a bad habit of ditching the puck to avoid pressure. Must learn to take contact to make a dent in the NHL. He has good scanning and anticipation. More of a man defense guy than a stay at home defender and is prone to coverage mistakes.

Forechecking:

Solberg is an effective offensive player who understands how to make himself a shooting threat without sacrificing his defensive responsibilities. He’s got great head and shoulder fakes. Will double or triple down on one to get a bite.

Defense:

Solberg is a solid defender but loses way too many puck battles for someone of his size. Keeps his head up and moves to close gaps and pressure the puck. Actively seeks and delivers bone-crushing, highlight reel hits.

Best Asset:

Solberg is a great hitter and has some offensive pop to his game.

Biggest Concern:

Skating. Particularly backwards skating, but the first step also needs to improve.

Top Tier/Role Potential:

Tier 2. Bottom 6 with above-average BSH, 25-30 points.

Justification for Top Tier Assessment:

If he’s seeing regular NHL shifts he is going to put fantasy points on the board especially in peripheral heavy formats.

50th Percentile Tier/Role:

Tier 3 / depth

Justification for 50th Percentile Tier Assessment:

Brings a physical punch as a 7th/8th defenseman but cannot survive regular shifts without improvements in his skating and better strategies to survive NHL level physical play.

Stylistic Comparable:

He’s got some Jacob Trouba to his game, not nearly the same ceiling though.

Scouts Final Thoughts and Additional Stats/Info:

Stian Solberg has a reputation as an old-school, tough, bruising defenseman and it's easy to see why. Surprising to me was the offensive pop in his game, he’s a good shooter and keeps offensive pressure on in the zone. Maybe I just grabbed a tough set of games for Solberg, but his poor battle win rate and unwillingness to take a hit to make a play are not encouraging traits. There are some good LD ahead of Solberg in Anaheim, so he’s got something to prove to make his BSH upside count.

Games Scouted:

NOR/CAN 21.05.2026 World Championships

NOR/LAT 28.05.2026 World Championships

San Diego Gulls/Coachella 18.04.2026 AHL