*For the duration of the Four Nations tournament I will be covering Team Sweden*
The Four Nations tournament has arrived and while it isn’t a true best on best tournament with a bevy of nations not invited this does provide a glimpse into what we’ve been missing the past decade plus. We will get the best of what Sweden, Finland, United States, and Canada has to offer in this mini tournament. There are a ton of excellent players who are going to be excited to get this opportunity. Some of these players are on teams who are not going to make the playoffs (ie Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell) and this will be a chance to play some meaningful games in a lost season.
Sweden heads into the tournament as the third favorite out of four teams. The United States and Canada are neck and neck as the favorites with Finland coming in as the least likeliest to win. In a short tournament with the kind of skill each team has I do believe all four teams have a chance to come away as the champion. Results can be volatile in such a short term tournament situation.
Sweden comes into the tournament with some nice firepower up front. Here’s a look at the stop performing Swedish players in the league this year courtesy of
QuantHockey
William Nylander is one of the most gifted and consistent goal scorers in the NHL. Including this season he is a five-time 30 goal scorer and he is currently on pace for 50 goals which would be a first for him. He is very likely to make this his third 40 goal season in a row. Jesper Bratt and Lucas Raymond bring some younger legs to the lineup and lead the way production wise in the 2024-25 NHL season. Rickard Rakell wasn’t an original member of the roster. He was added after William Karlsson bowed out of the tournament. Rakell is a worthy addition and is having a career season. He is on pace for 37 goals and 70 points which would both be career highs.
Elias Pettersson and Filip Forsberg are also going to play a big role in Sweden’s formidable attack
Here is a look at the forward lines for Sweden per
Daily Faceoff
I find the top nine very dangerous and balanced. The “third” line has both Lucas Raymond and Jesper Bratt on it and they are having marvelous seasons, as previously mentioned. This is a team that should be able to hang with each of the other three teams.
On defense we have some very familiar faces
They have spread the wealth on each of the pairings. Being able to place Victor Hedman, Rasmus Dahlin, and Erik Karlsson on different pairings is a pretty nice flex. Having Jonas Brodin, Gustav Forsling, and Mattias Ekholm as supporting players to round out the pairings is decent as well.
Sweden is going with a four forward approach with Hedman on PP1 and Karlsson on PP2.
I think it is an interesting choice to keep Dahlin off of either power play. He is immensely talented and has 42 points in 46 games played this year. It just goes to show you how much talent each of these teams have when you see a guy like Dahlin on the outside looking in on the power play.
As for goaltending Sweden will be without the services of Jacob Markstrom due to injury. They will enter the tournament with 2023 Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark, Filip Gustavsson, and Samual Ersson. Ullmark has the most pedigree due to his Vezina win. However, going by the 2024-25 season Gustavsson has played the best so far this year
I think the choice will obviously be between Gustavsson or Ullmark and the goaltending choice can be something that makes or breaks a team in an international tournament like this. Neither are Henrik Lundqvist, but both have shown the ability to play at a high level.
Sweden will be thrown right into the fire this tournament. They are the opening matchup and they will be playing Canada in Montreal in what should be an electric atmosphere. The game is at 8PM EST.
Thanks for reading!
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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