Three players from the Minnesota Wild were named to Sweden's roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off that was announced Wednesday.
Forward Joel Eriksson Ek, defenseman Jonas Brodin and goalie Filip Gustavsson were among the 17 players named to fill out Sweden's roster. Erikson Ek (lower-body injury) and Brodin (upper-body injury) are each week to week.
Forwards Filip Forsberg of the Nashville Predators, William Nylander of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Mika Zibanejad of the New York Rangers, defensemen Gustav Forsling of the Florida Panthers, Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Erik Karlsson of the Pittsburgh Penguins were the first six players named to the roster in June.
"Obviously, it's going to change a little bit playing on a smaller ice against the best in the world, but this means a lot," Hedman said. "To represent your country is something you never take for granted. You play deep into May or June [in the Stanley Cup Playoffs] you don't get the chance to play many times, so to have the opportunity now it's going to be the best."
Forsberg, Hedman and Karlsson helped Team Sweden finish third at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey in Toronto, the last best-on-best international tournament featuring NHL players.
The 4 Nations Face-Off will be held from Feb. 12-20 at Bell Centre in Montreal and at TD Garden in Boston. Each of the four countries competing -- Finland, Sweden, Canada and the United States -- will have a 23-man roster that includes 13 forwards, seven defenseman and three goalies, all of whom play in the NHL.
"It feels surreal that you're going to play in a tournament like this," Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson said. "But at the same time I thought I've been off to a pretty good start this year and it was always in the back of my head to try to make this team. I'm super proud of myself I did. It is best on best. I know it's only the four nations that's in it, but it's a surreal feeling because it is best on best and it's the first time in a long time."
Joining Erikson Ek, Forsberg, Nylander and Zibanejad up front are Viktor Arvidsson of the Edmonton Oilers, Jesper Bratt of the New Jersey Devils, Leo Carlsson of the Anaheim Ducks, William Karlsson of the Vegas Golden Knights, Adrian Kempe of the Los Angeles Kings, Elias Lindholm of the Boston Bruins, Gustav Nyquist of the Predators, Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks and Lucas Raymond of the Detroit Red Wings.
Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres and Mattias Ekholm of the Oilers join Andersson, Brodin, Forsling, Hedman and Karlsson on defense.
"It's going to be huge for us," Hedman said of the depth on defense. "Some of the names that are unfortunately going to be left off are still world-class defenders. To have the D-core that we have is pretty impressive. For a small country, we've produced some really good hockey talent, so yeah we've just got to make sure we gel right away and figure out what pairings work in the first days of practice and just go out there and rock it in the game."
Jacob Markstrom of the Devils and Linus Ullmark of the Ottawa Senators joined Gustavsson as the three goalies.
"I'm 34 now, and it was almost 10 years ago since the last best on best tournament was played," said Markstrom, who was on Team Sweden for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. "When you're there, you're thinking it's the Olympics in two years, and Olympics four years after that. It's really a privilege and now we got Olympics in Italy coming up in a in a few years (2026). These tournaments, you never know how many, or if you're going to be able to play one even. ... Every player wants to represent their country and play against and measure against all the other countries. It's a privilege. Not many people to get to play these tournaments so I'm going to enjoy every second of it.
Andersson was impressed with the depth of Sweden's goaltending.
"If you look at the goalies, I think the goalies are really good," Andersson said. "You have Ullmark, who won a Vezina a couple years ago. You have 'Marky' who's one of the top goalies in the League each and every year. You have Gustafsson who is leading the League in save percentage right now and is playing on a really good team."
Finland also announced its roster Wednesday afternoon, while the United States and Canada will announce theirs later Wednesday (6:30 p.m. ET; TNT, SN, TVAS).
Sweden opens the tournament against Canada at Bell Centre on Feb. 12 (8 p.m. ET; TNT, SN, TVAS).
"It's been a desire from players and fans for a long time for a tournament in this kind of format, and we're very excited for it," Sweden coach Sam Hallam said. "I think we have a team that's competitive. It's been actually an honor to call around to the guys that made the team here and just hear the excitement and the pride they have in dressing up for Team Sweden here in a tournament like this.
"Then I just think the bigger picture of it is just to inspire the kids out there playing hockey, seeing some of the best players in the world going up against each other on the ice, and hopefully getting even more kids and parents taking their kids to the rink and growing our game. So we're thrilled to be a part of it, and we're really excited, and we think we have a real good group coming into this tournament."
