Sweden’s squad for the 4-nation face-off includes 3 Wild players

Three Minnesota Wild players have been named to Sweden’s squad for the four-nation face-off announced on Wednesday.

Striker Joel Eriksson Ek, defender Jonas Brodin and goalkeeper Filip Gustavsson were among the 17 players who completed Sweden’s squad. Erikson Ek (lower body injury) and Brodin (upper body injury) are in every 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 ones first six players added to the squad in June.

“Obviously it will change a little bit playing on smaller ice against the best in the world, but that means a lot,” Hedman said. “Representing your country is something you never take for granted. You’re playing well into May or June (in the Stanley Cup Playoffs) and you don’t get the chance to play often, so getting the chance now will be the best.”

Forsberg, Hedman and Karlsson helped the Swedish team to third place at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey in Toronto, the last international best-on-best tournament featuring NHL players.

The 4 Nations Face-Off will take place from February 12th to 20th at the Bell Center in Montreal and the TD Garden in Boston. Each of the four participating countries – Finland, Sweden, Canada and the United States – will have a 23-man roster consisting of 13 forwards, seven defensemen and three goaltenders, all of whom play in the NHL.

“It feels surreal to be playing in a tournament like this,” Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson said. “But at the same time, I thought I got off to a pretty good start this year and always had it in the back of my mind to try to make this team. I’m super proud of myself, I achieved that. It’s the best.’ I know it’s only the four nations, but it’s a surreal feeling because it’s the best and it’s the first time in a long time.

In addition to Erikson Ek, Forsberg, Nylander and Zibanejad are Viktor Arvidsson from the Edmonton Oilers, Jesper Bratt from the New Jersey Devils, Leo Carlsson from the Anaheim Ducks, William Karlsson from the Vegas Golden Knights, Adrian Kempe from the Los Angeles Kings, Elias Lindholm from the Boston Bruins, Gustav Nyquist from the Predators, Elias Pettersson from the Vancouver Canucks and Lucas Raymond from the Detroit Red Wings.

“It’s huge,” Lindholm said. “Any time you get the chance to represent your country, it’s obviously an honor. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to put on the jersey. It’ll be a lot of fun to put it back on.”

Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabers 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 strength of the defense. “Some of the names that are unfortunately left out are still world-class defenders. Having the D-Core that we have is pretty impressive. For a small country, we’ve produced some really good hockey talent, so yeah. “We just have to make sure we get along well right away and figure out what pairings work in the first few days of training and then just go out there and rock in the game.”

Jacob Markstrom of the Devils and Linus Ullmark of the Ottawa Senators joined Gustavsson as the three goaltenders.

“I’m 34 now, and it’s been almost 10 years since the last best-on-best tournament was held,” said Markstrom, who was on Team Sweden at the 2016 Ice Hockey World Championships. “When you’re there, you think it’s the Olympics in two years and the Olympics four years after that. It is truly a privilege and now the Olympic Games are coming up in Italy in a few years (2026). These tournaments.” You never know how many, or if you can even play in one… Every player wants to play against all the other countries and compete with them. So I get to play these tournaments. I’m going to enjoy every second of it.

Andersson was impressed by the depth of the Swedish goalkeeper.

“If you look at the goalkeepers, I think they are really good,” Andersson said. “You have Ullmark, who won a Vezina a few years ago. They have ‘Marky’ who is one of the best goalies in the league every year. They have Gustafsson, who currently leads the league in save percentage and continues to play a really good team.”

Finland also announced its roster on Wednesday afternoon, while the United States and Canada will announce their rosters later on Wednesday (6:30 p.m. ET; TNT, SN, TVAS).

Sweden opens the tournament against Canada on February 12 at the Bell Center (8:00 p.m. ET; TNT, SN, TVAS).

“Players and fans have wanted a tournament in this format for a long time and we are very happy about it,” said Sweden coach Sam Hallam. “I think we have a competitive team. It was really an honor to call the guys who made the team here and just hear how excited and proud they are to be here performing for Team Sweden at a tournament like this.”

“Then I think the bigger picture is just to inspire the kids out there to play hockey, see some of the best players in the world compete on the ice, and hopefully get even more kids and parents to get their kids involved “We’re excited to be a part of it and we’re really excited and we think we have a really good group going into this tournament.”