The 2026 Winter Olympics are almost upon us, and the participating teams will soon have to name their rosters for the tournament. That said, it’s always fun to speculate about what the Olympic rosters will look like.
Last week, we focused on Team Canada and Team USA. It’s now time to project Sweden’s men’s hockey roster.
The Swedes won’t be favorites to win the tournament, but they have the talent to win gold.
They’ll need their best players to come up big in clutch moments – we’re talking about Toronto Maple Leafs star right wing William Nylander, Los Angeles Kings right wing Adrian Kempe and Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson – and their goaltending will need to be a strength for them.
Sweden has an excellent balance of young players and proven veterans. Their youngsters include Anaheim Ducks budding star Leo Carlsson, Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and Minnesota Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt. Some veterans are New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad, Colorado Avalanche left winger Gabriel Landeskog and Nashville Predators left wing Filip Forsberg.
There’s also more than enough competition for roster spots that some surprising names were left off our roster projection.
Don’t forget, this projection is based on this writer’s point of view. So let’s get straight to the projection for Team Sweden. Players with an asterisk were already named to the roster in June.
Forwards
Centers: Elias Pettersson, Leo Carlsson, Joel Eriksson Ek, Mika Zibanejad
Wingers: William Nylander*, Adrian Kempe*, Jesper Bratt, Filip Forsberg, Gabriel Landeskog*, Lucas Raymond*, Rickard Rakell, Elias Lindholm, Marcus Johansson, Emil Heineman
The lowdown: Sweden’s forward group isn’t as deep as Canada’s or the United States’, but that doesn’t mean there’s not a lot to like up front.
With centers Pettersson and Carlsson providing offense for the group, a defense-minded center like Minnesota’s Joel Eriksson Ek can star on the penalty kill and match up against the other team’s top scorers.
On the wing, there’s no shortage of offense with Nylander, Kempe, Detroit’s Lucas Raymond, Pittsburgh’s Rickard Rakell and Nashville’s Forsberg providing speed and skill. And a veteran like Minnesota’s Marcus Johansson and the New York Islanders’ Emil Heineman have essentially played their way onto the roster with strong starts to the season.
In any case, the Swedes have more than enough high-end talent to keep them competitive in this tournament. But responsible performances at both ends of the ice will be mandatory if they’re to outlast the Canadian and U.S. squads.
Defensemen
Rasmus Dahlin*, Victor Hedman*, Hampus Lindholm, Erik Karlsson, Rasmus Andersson, Gustav Forsling, Jonas Brodin, Oliver Ekman-Larsson
The lowdown: Believe us when we tell you it was very tough leaving off Edmonton’s Mattias Ekholm from this group of eight Swedish blueliners, considering he was on the 4 Nations Face-Off roster.
But Boston’s Hampus Lindholm missed the 4 Nations with an injury, and the defensive specialist will play a crucial role on the penalty kill. And Toronto’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson can be an effective depth puck-mover, and he has experience playing on the right side despite being a lefty. Ekholm can play on the right side as well in specific situations, but this is mainly a case of which type of player we want as the seventh or eighth D-man.
Dahlin, Forsling, Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman, Calgary’s Rasmus Andersson and Minnesota’s Jonas Brodin, who were all on the 4 Nations roster, can give the Swedes at least 20 minutes of solid two-way play without giving up anything at either end of the ice.
If there is an injury (Hedman left Tuesday’s game), we’d go with Ekholm in a limited role.
Goaltenders
Jacob Markstrom, Jesper Wallstedt, Filip Gustavsson
The lowdown: Speaking of players who’ve played their way onto Team Sweden, Wild youngster Jesper Wallstedt is having a terrific year for Minnesota, and teammate Filip Gustavsson has also earned a spot.
The final goalie spot came down to two veterans having a subpar season – New Jersey’s Jacob Markstrom and Ottawa’s Linus Ullmark. And we chose Markstrom over Ullmark in a hunch. But if Ullmark outplays Markstrom in the next couple weeks, we’d be fine swapping the two.
Wallstedt is just beginning his journey as an elite netminder. But from what we’ve seen from him thus far this year, we’d give him the starter’s job to start the Olympics.
Gustavsson would be our second choice, and after that, Ullmark or Markstrom would be goaltending insurance, but Sweden’s goalies don’t have to steal them any games. If they give the Swedish forwards and defensemen a chance to win games, that’s all Swedish brass will care about.
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