The NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off is shaping up to be an epic event. The final squads are due to be released in the coming weeks, but speculation is now increasing. In another attempt to predict lineups, let’s take a look at what Team Sweden will look like at the start of the tournament.

Even though the Swedish team doesn’t have a single goalkeeper among its first six names on the roster, that’s not because the country lacks talent and options in net. New Jersey Devils starter Jacob Markstrom and Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark of the Ottawa Senators will likely compete for the top spot.

However, the 26-year-old goalkeeper of the Minnesota Wild, Filip Gustavsson, cannot be ignored in the starts. He’s with the Wild this year and could be the hottest goalie of the three early in the tournament.

One dark horse to keep an eye on is Samuel Ersson of the Philadelphia Flyers. He was recently injured and may not be available, but he has steadily improved over the last few years and has earned himself an extended stint with the Swedish team.

This is the strongest position for Team Sweden. Gustav Forsling, Victor Hedman and Erik Karlsson have already been named to the team, but there are still four spots to be filled and around ten players are entitled to those spots.

The key for Sweden is balance. Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Ekholm appear to be essential to the lineup as both are great defenders and can fill in wherever the team needs them. That leaves only one right-handed hitter in the mix, meaning Sweden will look to the Calgary Flames’ Rasmus Andersson to assemble their top-six defensemen. Minnesota Wild veteran Jonas Brodin is my choice as the seventh defenseman.

There are several other players on Team Sweden’s radar: Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Marcus Pettersson of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Hampus Lindholm of the Boston Bruins and Adam Larsson of the Seattle Kraken.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: This lineup needs to strike a balance between scoring and defending. With the addition of players like William Karlsson of the Vegas Golden Knights, Michael Backlund of the Calgary Flames and Joel Eriksson Ek, Team Sweden has three centers who kill penalties but also have 25+ goals. Combined with the elite skills of their top players, this lineup should provide a healthy mix of scoring and defense.

As with the blue line, Sweden has many options available. Some names to keep an eye on include Andre Burakovsky of the Seattle Kraken, Alex Wennberg of the San Jose Sharks and Nils Hoglander of the Vancouver Canucks.

It will be a difficult task for any of the four teams to win this event, but Team Canada and the United States are the two betting favorites for the tournament. However, with this planned lineup, Team Sweden has a good chance of taking home the gold medal at the 4-Nation Face-Off.

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