Jakob Ihs-Wozniak is an Australian-born Swedish forward who is considered among the top prospects for the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, usually being ranked somewhere in the 20s or 30s by scouts. Ihs-Wozniak has been playing with Luleå HF since the 2021-2022 season when he was on their under-16 team. Most recently, the 18-year-old played with their J20 Nationell team, where he had a standout season. Ihs-Wozniak played 40 games, totalling 57 points– 23 goals, 34 assists.
2024-25 Team: Luleå HF J20 (J20 Nationell, Swedish Hockey League)
Date of Birth: Feb 1, 2007
Place of Birth: Adelaide, Australia
Height: 6-feet-3 Weight: 185 pounds
Shoots: Right
Position: Forward
Ranked #44 by Inside The Rink
Ranked #8 by NHL Central Scouting (EU Skaters)
Ranked #53 by TSN/Craig Button
Ranked #33 by TSN/Bob McKenzie
Ranked #41 by Daily Faceoff
Ranked #35X by Sportsnet/Jason Bukala
He also represented Sweden in both the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and the IIHF’s World Junior A Challenge (WJAC). In the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, he scored four goals in five games and totalled six points (3g, 3a) in the WJAC.
Awards/Achievements
- 2024-25: Hlinka Gretzky Cup Bronze Medal
- 2024-25: Hlinka Gretzky Cup Most Goals (4)
- 2024-25: WJAC-19 Silver Medal
- 2023-24: U17 WHC Bronze Medal
- 2023-24: U18 WJC Bronze Medal
- 2023-24: J20 Nationell Most Points by U17 Junior (49)
Scouting Report
Jakob Ihs-Wozniak is a high-producing player with stellar offensive ability. He has a high hockey IQ and keen spatial awareness, recognizing when to change his pace to create space for himself or his teammates, and can move the puck quickly and effectively. He also has a hard, accurate shot–62% of his attempts hit the net, and he had an average of 2.2 high-quality scoring opportunities per game. He has noticeably increased his physicality on the ice this season–something he was lacking beforehand.
Ihs-Wozniak’s biggest struggle is his tendency to default to passing, rather than making a simpler play. If he can develop his ability to see prime scoring opportunities and shoot the puck himself, he will find the back of the net more often and be an even higher-powered forward. This will likely come with maturation and ice time at a more elite level. He recently signed a two-year contract with the Swedish Hockey League to play senior hockey with Luleå.
The forward’s strengths lie in his shooting, his newly-found physical play, his ability to protect the puck, and his deking ability. Neutral Zone describes Ihs-Wozniak as having an “exceptional ability to protect the puck, using his size, core strength, and reach to shield it in tight or extend the puck away from defenders,” adding that he “handles the puck effectively in small areas, leveraging balance and control to maintain possession under pressure”.
After signing his contract with the SHL, Jakob Ihs-Wozniak indicated that he was feeling excited and ready to begin his senior hockey career, speculating that it would be “a very fun challenge to take on for my continued development as a hockey player.” Thomas Fröberg, the team’s general manager, said (translated from Swedish), “It feels fantastic that we have agreed on a contract with Jakob, who is one of Sweden’s greatest talents on the forward side – a player who also comes from our own ranks and who has made a fantastic journey up through our junior teams to being a leading player in the J20 team.”
If Jakob Ihs-Wozniak can continue to develop his game overall and fine-tune his defensive ability and other small areas of improvement, he could be a solid middle-six addition for a team that needs a consistent, high-producing power forward.
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