Projected Sweden Roster for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off Tourney

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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.

NHL 4 Nations Face-off William Nylander, Elias Pettersson, and Rasmus Dahlin Sweden Projected Roster
William Nylander, Elias Pettersson, and Rasmus Dahlin (The Hockey Writers)

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

LEFT-WINGCENTERRIGHT-WING
Filip ForsbergElias PetterssonWilliam Nylander
Adrian KempeMika ZibanejadJesper Bratt
William KarlssonElias LindholmLucas Raymond
Gabriel LandeskogJoel Eriksson EkMikael Backlund
Leo Carlsson
The Swedes have championship-worthy center depth, led by Elias Pettersson, who is producing like crazy this season with the Vancouver Canucks. Include Mika Zibanejad, a three-time 30-goal scorer and new teammate of Petterson, Elias Lindholm, who has been producing well with his time in Vancouver so far.

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

LDRD
Rasmus DahlinRasmus Andersson
Victor HedmanHampus Lindholm
Mattias EkholmErik Karlsson
Adam Larsson
Regarding defensemen, the Swedes do it right, both offensively and defensively. The creativity of pairs you can make with these players is outstanding. Erik Karlsson and Victor Hedman have both won the Norris Trophy, including their strengths of puck-moving ability and offensive skill. Hedman, Rasmus Dahlin, and Karlsson are each in the top 15 in the NHL among defensemen with points. Size and physicality are oozing out of this core. Lindholm is 6-foot-4, 224 pounds, Mattias Ekholm is 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, and Hedman is 6-foot-7, 227 pounds; needless to say, they’re all scary and will hit you if the opportunity arises. When paired, all defensemen in this core complement each other’s skills or boost what they do well even more when on the ice.

Goaltending

Linus Ullmark
Jacob Markstrom
Filip Gustavsson
Sweden could make the case and compete for the best goaltending core out of the four in the tournament. Linus Ullmark won the Vezina Trophy last season, and Jacob Markstrom was a finalist in 2022; Filip Gustavsson shows his worth every time he steps into the net and is a significant factor in the Minnesota Wilds’ success last season. This season, Markstrom is having a solid bounceback season while playing with a Calgary Flames that might be selling more than just Lindholm come the trade deadline. At the same time, Ullmark isn’t having as good of a season as last year, but he is still tremendous while being a part of arguably the best goalie tandem in the NHL with Jeremey Swayman for the Boston Bruins.

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.