What I'm seeing from Team Sweden: 'Phenomenal' goaltending, do-it-all D and lines from first practice

BROSSARD, Quebec Jacob Markstrom has saved 11.3 goals above expected this season, according to MoneyPuck .

This places him No.

10 among NHL goalies with 25 or more starts.

Being without a goalie of Markstroms quality the New Jersey Devils puckstopper hobbled off the Prudential Center ice with a knee injury on Jan.

22 is not keeping Team Sweden coach Sam Hallam up at night.

Rolling Linus Ullmark, Filip Gustavsson or Sam Ersson in the 4 Nations Face-Off is Hallams ace card.

Advertisement Of course with Markstrom out, its great to have Linus here, said Hallam, whose club opens against Team Canada, following Mondays practice at CN Sports Complex.

Were confident that any of the three can start Wednesday night.

Good to have the Vezina Trophy winner in the room.

Hallam has not announced whether Ullmark, who nabbed the Vezina in 2023, will go against Canada.

Ullmarks availability was not always set in stone.

On Dec.

22, 2024, the Ottawa Senators goalie left in the first period against the Edmonton Oilers because of a back injury.

He did not play until Feb.

4, when he stopped 34 shots against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Four nights later, Ullmark had a final tuneup against the Florida Panthers.

It was a busy one: 43 saves on 47 shots.

We played him his first game back, and he looked phenomenal, said Sweden captain Victor Hedman.

I know he played in Florida as well.

Faced 47, 48 shots.

So hes had his workload, thats for sure.

Obviously feel bad for Jacob not being here.

But to have Sammy, whos been phenomenal for Philly the whole season you look at our roster from goalies to forwards, tremendous to see how much talent we have.

Given Ersson was Markstroms replacement, its likely Ullmark or Gustavsson will start against Canada.

It could be a coin flip.

Gustavsson has saved 14.6 goals above expected.

Ullmark is at 11.1 in 12 fewer appearances.

I was never really concerned, Ullmark said.

It was a long time until we came here today.

We didnt stress anything.

We didnt feel like we had to rush through the process to get me to be part of this team.

Once we settled that in, talked it over and had the communication throughout this whole process in the beginning, I never felt that I was stressed about it or concerned I wasnt going to be a part of it.

Advertisement Do-it-all defense Sweden will ride its defense as well as its goaltending.

The team designed the blue line with a mix of shutdown presence and offensive creativity on each pairing, no less.

In theory, Jonas Brodins stay-at-home game will give Hedman the green light to go.

Mattias Ekholm should have the same effect on Erik Karlsson.

Rasmus Andersson will let Rasmus Dahlin roam up ice.

I dont see our team as an underdog, Ekholm said.

I think we have incredible talent.

Just being out there practicing today, the speed, everything is at a crazy high level.

Gustav Forsling did not practice because of an illness.

The Florida Panthers defenseman is expected to practice on Tuesday.

Top-line skill If Swedens balanced defense can stop opposing pucks and get them onto their forwards sticks, it will be up to the No.

1 line of Rickard Rakell, Mika Zibanejad and William Nylander to score timely goals.

The three right-shot forwards will be asked to create speed through center ice and apply their east-west skill in the offensive zone.

Nylander (33 goals) will be the primary shooter.

Rakell and Zibanejad have shared shifts during previous international play.

Im not really surprised how good he is, Zibanejad said of Nylander.

In terms of his puckhandling, the way he sees the ice and his all-around game, the way hes been the last couple years, its been awesome to see.

Maybe not as much fun to play against.

But I get a chance to play with him now.

Im excited.

The No.

2 line of Adrian Kempe, Elias Pettersson and Filip Forsberg will be asked to create too.

Trying to get the puck in their hands, Pettersson said of his wings.

Trying to set them up with speed through the neutral zone.

I think all of us understand each other.

Olympics on the horizon Ekholm enjoyed playing for Sweden in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

But there is a difference this time.

The NHL did not release its players for the 2018 Winter Games.

As such, Olympic motivation did not exist during the World Cup.

Advertisement That is not the case with the 4 Nations.

The 34-year-old Edmonton Oilers defenseman wants the upcoming tournament to set up the 2026 Olympics in Italy.

The World Cup was just the World Cup, Ekholm recalled.

There wasnt really a for-sure whats next.

Here next year, we have an Olympic tournament that were going to be in.

That brings a little extra element or extra edge to it.

You can look at it any way you want.

This is just a tournament.

But next year, its about a gold medal.

Carlsson as an extra Leo Carlsson was the No.

13 forward in Mondays practice.

The No.

2 pick from 2023 could be a future go-to all-around forward for Sweden.

We really felt we want him on the team, Hallam said.

We want him to be ready to get in there, but also to be comfortable in the environment around our other top Swedish guys.

Because hopefully hes going to be a part of the national team for a long time here.

(Photo of William Nylander and Viktor Arvidsson: Vitor Munhoz / Getty Images).

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