What more can be said about the Swedes when it comes to hockey? Creativity and skill are just a few words to describe the play they produce on the ice, from their forward group being elite in many ways to their defense being monsters in both offense and defensive categories.
The Swedes have always had success, having homegrown players succeed in many ways in the league in all positions. They are a monster of a competitor when it comes to international play and will put it all forward this tournament as well.
Projected Roster for the United States
As a reminder, the 4 Nations Face-Off will be an in-season tournament that will be taking place from Feb. 12-20, 2025. Remember, the 2023-24 season is still in motion, and the following season still needs to come around; a lot could change between now and then. Let’s see what Swedish-born players could be part of this first-ever roster.
Forwards
Related: Top 10 Swedes in the NHL Today
Pairing the elite scoring of Filip Forsberg and the insurgence of William Nylander taking his game to a new level is a hell of a first line. A second line of Zibanejad, Jasper Bratt, and Adrian Kempe offers an outstanding balance of Kempe’s size and skill in front of the net, Zibanejad’s playmaking and puck-moving, and adding Bratt’s shot would be difficult to slow down. The third line of William Karlsson, Lindholm, and Lucas Raymond can offer speed on the wing with Lindholm’s playmaking ability and excellent defensive reliability. The fourth line can be a massive shutdown line. Joel Eriksson Ek is growing as a tremendous top shutdown center; if healthy and willing to play, Gabriel Landeskog would be an enormous addition to leadership among the group paired with Mikael Backlund to make an intelligent defensive core.
Defence
LD | RD |
Rasmus Dahlin | Rasmus Andersson |
Victor Hedman | Hampus Lindholm |
Mattias Ekholm | Erik Karlsson |
Adam Larsson |
Goaltending
Linus Ullmark |
Jacob Markstrom |
Filip Gustavsson |
Final Words
Who else better than the Swedes to be labeled the underdogs and have that help fuel their motivation. While their team isn’t as “stacked” with talent compared to the United States or Canada, their roster can play a full 200-foot game, and with their size on the back end, it will physically hurt to play against this team.