University of Minnesota Duluth incoming freshmen forward Victor Plante and goaltender Carl Axelsson were both selected Saturday in the 2026 NHL Draft. Plante was taken by the Detroit Red Wings with the 47th pick in the second round, while Axelsson was selected in the fourth round 115th overall by the Utah Mammoth.

The duo now bring UMD's total of NHL draftees to 134 in program history, and push the 2026-27 UMD roster to eight NHL draftees.

Plante, the younger brother of current Bulldogs Zam and Max Plante, who are both NHL draft picks in their own right. The Hermantown, Minn. native is the son of former UMD All-American, Buffalo Sabres draftee and former NHL player Derek Plante.

Plante spent the last two years with the United States National Team Development Program, scored 21 goals and 48 points in 57 games over the 2025-26 season with the Under-18 squad. Most recently, Plante competed with the U.S. side in the IIHF Under-18 Men's World Championship. In five games, he recorded a goal and four assists for a point per game average in the tournament.

Axelsson – who will be just the third Swedish player in program history – joins Plante as the second member of the class of the 2026 signing class to have a parent that played for UMD. Axelsson's dad Niklas was a goaltender for UMD for two seasons (1993-95). The 6-foot-4 goaltender played for the USHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks this past season, and posted a 2.48 GAA with a 28-14-1 record in 44 games. A native of Danderyd, Sweden, Axelsson is a member of Sweden's Under-20 National Team.

UMD's 2026-27 roster has eight NHL drafted players: freshman goaltender Carl Axelsson (Utah), senior defenseman Brady Cleveland (Detroit),  junior defenseman Adam Kleber (Buffalo), senior defenseman Aaron Pionk (Minnesota), junior winger Max Plante (Detroit), freshman winger Victor Plante (Detroit ), junior winger Zam Plante (Pittsburgh) and junior winger Jayson Shaugabay (Tampa).