Carlsson sees 4 Nations Face-Off as chance to learn from NHL's best

WASHINGTON -- Leo Carlsson looks at Sweden's roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off and gets excited about the opportunity ahead of him.

"It's going to be cool playing with some of the all-time great Swedish players, just to see how they are, see what they do well and stuff like that," the Anaheim Ducks center said last week. "Guys like Erik Karlsson and Victor Hedman, they've been in the League for a long time and they're going to be in the Hall of Fame."

The 4 Nations Face-Off, which will be held Feb. 12-20 at Bell Centre in Montreal and TD Garden in Boston, will pit NHL players from Sweden, Finland, the United States and Canada against each other in the first best-on-best tournament since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

Carlsson, the No. 2 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, Carlsson has 16 points (nine goals, seven assists) in 40 games this season heading into Anaheim’s home game against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; Victory+, SCRIPPS, KCOP-13, SNO, SNE, SN1) after he had 29 points (12 goals, 17 assists) in 55 games as an NHL rookie last season.

The native of Karlstad, Sweden, native will be 20 years and 48 days old when Sweden plays its opening game against Canada at Bell Centre on Feb. 12 (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS). That will make him the youngest player in the tournament by more than two years, ahead of Minnesota Wild defenseman Brock Faber (22 years, 104 days), who will play for the U.S.

Carlsson's experience at the 4 Nations Face-Off could help him potentially play for Sweden in the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics when he’ll be a year older and have another NHL season under his belt. Sweden general manager Josef Boumedienne made it clear, though, that Carlsson wasn't selected to the roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off to get a young player experience.

"He's a heck of a player," Boumedienne said. "He's one of the best play drivers in the NHL throughout the neutral zone the way he carries the puck, the way he distributes the puck. He had a huge summer as far as developing strength and power.

"He's not on the team because he's young; he's on the team because he deserves to be on the team."

Still, Carlsson will have a chance to learn from a wealth of talent and experience on Sweden's roster. In addition to Karlsson, a Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman, and Hedman, a Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman, he'll get to observe fellow centers such as Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks, Mika Zibanejad of the New York Rangers, Joel Eriksson Ek of the Wild, Elias Lindholm of the Boston Bruins and William Karlsson of the Vegas Golden Knights.

Carlsson hopes to soak in all he can.

"Just like the mindset, maybe," he said. "How they carry themselves off the ice maybe too."

Carlsson also believes he will benefit from playing against top players on the other teams. In Sweden's opener against Canada alone, he potentially could line up against Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Sidney Crosby of the Penguins.

"Just to play at the highest level possible, play against the best guys in the world basically, that's going to be exciting," Carlsson said.

Ducks coach Greg Cronin agrees that Carlsson's development will be helped by playing among the best in the game at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Anaheim (18-22-6) has shown some signs of improvement but is in the middle of a rebuild. With that comes some challenging days.

At the 4 Nations Face-off, he'll be pushed during every practice and game.

"I think any time you're around people that are more talented, older, more mature, they've got really good habits built into them," Cronin said. "The entire team has got that. I think that's going to be a really good standard for him to measure himself by. It's a great opportunity. It's a little bit different here with the number of young guys we have that are still trying to create good habits.

"So, I think it's going to be a blessing for him to be around that."

Cronin acknowledged that Carlsson "started off a little bit slow," this season after his promising rookie season, during which the Ducks budgeted his playing time at the start, including scratching him for certain games so he could work off the ice to build his strength.

"It's crazy, that sophomore slump, the expression you hear quite a bit," Cronin said. "We had quite a few guys, I think, went through that. Leo's game is driven by his compete level and his skating. If he skates and he competes, he's real visible in all three zones. He wasn't giving us that to the level we wanted earlier in the year. I think the since the [holiday] break he's picked it up.

"He doesn't have the points to show for the pace to his game, but he's got more pucks. I think he's had more scoring chances and he's defending better."

Carlsson sounded a bit frustrated that he hasn't produced more offensively yet. He can see the progress in his game beyond that, though.

"I think I've been playing pretty well," he said. "I just can't score some games, so just the points part of it has kind of been tough. But still, I'm playing well. I just don't get the statistics, get those goals. So, it's tougher, but I know I've just got to keep going."

Playing on a line with Alex Killorn, a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Lightning (2020, 2021), gives Carlsson a veteran to lean on. Killorn sees Carlsson's natural talent.

It's just a matter of learning how to bring it out consistently.

"When he's skating and he has the puck through the neutral zone, he's one of the better players I've ever seen at carrying the puck and creating opportunities off the rush, and he's really good at that," Killorn said. "And it's tough to teach that. He's one of those guys that can transport the puck through the neutral zone and create, and he's got incredible speed."