Sweden kicks off tournament play in Group B on Sunday against Russia. Tre Kroner also shares a group with Finland and Team North America. The Swedes went 1-2 in pre-tourney play and are considered a favorite to be one of the two team that's advance out of the preliminary rounds. Below is a team breakdown by Goalies, Forwards and then Defensemen followed by an overall prediction.
GOALIES
Robin Lehner, Sabres, replaced by Jhonas Enroth, Maple Leafs
Henrik Lundqvist, Rangers
Jacob Markstrom, Canucks
The clear #1 to no ones' surprise is Lundqvist, but he struggled in pre-tourney play. After sitting out Game 1 due to a rib injury, Lundqvist gave up eight goals on 36 shots against in 107 minutes of play, getting chased after allowing five goals in 22 shots against Team Europe in the team's final tune up. The hope/belief/prayer is that that Lundqvist is just scraping off the rust and will raise him game once the 'real' game start. But given how he ended the season, it's understandable if his so-so play in game 2 against Finland and struggles against Europe raises some eyebrows and heart rates on Sweden. In addition, it's fair to wonder if the injury is more severe than he has let on, impacting his reactions and lateral movement.
Lehner, if he had been healthy, might have been Lundqvist’s backup. With him not here, Markstrom is the likely #2. Enroth has more experience but Markstrom is more talented. If Sweden needed to turn to someone else between the pipes, look for it to be Markstrom and not Enroth.
DEFENSE
Mattias Ekholm, Predators
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Coyotes
Victor Hedman, Lightning
Niklas Hjalmarsson, Blackhawks
Erik Karlsson, Senators
Niklas Kronwall, Red Wings, replaced by Hampus Lindholm, Ducks
Anton Stralman, Lightning
The perceived strength of the team. Lindholm replacing Kronwall might even be an upgrade, giving Sweden seven solid blueliners. Having those seven gives coach Rikard Gronberg options, as he could use an 11F/7D alignment, though Sweden is likely to deploy the normal six defensemen.
Gronberg can go with several different combinations. One possible group is EK-Hjalmarsson, Ekholm-OEL and Hedman-Stralman with Lindholm as the extra. Ekholm struggled against Europe, so expect Lindholm to dress for him and play next to Karlsson with Hjalmarsson paired with OEL.
Pairing those latter two means that Sweden has a less than optimal lefty-lefty duo. But EK (24:30 in the three games) and OEL (22:06) eat up so many minutes that by separating the two, you almost always have a #1 d-man on the ice. It wouldn't be shocking to see Gronberg plays EK and OEL together late in games. The top two pairings will be mix-and-match at times, which is what occurred in the pre-tourney contests.
Hedman and Stralman, teammates in Tampa, make up the third pairing. Though in reality, it's not a true third as they could be a top pairing on other teams. It's this enviable depth that will make Sweden tough to play against and a positive favorite. In addition, this duo sees most of the action on the penalty kill.
FORWARDS
Nicklas Backstrom, Capitals
Loui Eriksson, Canucks
Filip Forsberg, Predators
Carl Hagelin, Penguins
Patric Hornqvist, Penguins
Marcus Kruger, Blackhawks
Gabriel Landeskog, Avalanche
Daniel Sedin, Canucks
Henrik Sedin, Canucks
Jakob Silfverberg, Ducks
Carl Soderberg, Avalanche
Alexander Steen, Blues, replaced by Rickard Rakell, Ducks, who was replaced by Patrik Berglund, Blues.
Henrik Zetterberg, Red Wings, replaced by Mikael Backlund, Flames
The two top lines for Tre Kroner should continue to be Eriksson-Sedin-Sedin and Forsberg-Backstrom-Hornqvist. Those six were responsible for the goals scored for Sweden in the pre-tourney round. It's that possible lack of support from the bottom six that is one of the team's major weaknesses.
The likely remaining trios should be Hagelin-M Backlund or Kruger-Silfverberg and either the other or Patrik Berglund, who was added for Rickard Rakell, on a line with Soderberg and Landeskog. Krueger missed the team’s last exhibition game against Team Europe with an upper body injury but he is expected to be ready for Sweden’s first tournament game. If he is sidelined, look for Backlund to center the third line and Berglund the fourth.
The Sedin Twins and Eriksson has showed tremendous chemistry. That trio are with EK and OEL on a very dangerous power play, which is why staying out of the box against Sweden is a key to success.
Prediction:
Not that either of the brackets is easy but having Russia and Team North America's group is no easy task. It's between those three - apologies Finland - to see who advances to the semi-finals. Russia has tremendous forwards but their D is questionable and goaltending a possible weakness. If Sergei Bobrovsky plays as he did the other night, they will be a very tough out. But I wouldn't be shocked if Andrei Vasilevskiy takes over as the #1 there.
Team North America has a staggering amount of talent up front. Drouin, Eichel, Gaudreau, Larkin, Matthews, McDavid and Scheifele just to name seven of them. The blue line also has a fairly healthy amount of talent, and if Ekblad and Ghost play as they have, supplemented by Jones, Parayko and Reilly, North America will be an even harder out. Matt Murray should be able to hold off John Gibson as the team's top netminder.
Team Finland has a handyman of forwards that will be fun to watch. Aho, Barkov, Donskoi and especially Laine fall into that category. The blue line is led by Ristolainen but besides him, the defensemen don't strike fear in anyone. If either Pekka Rinne or Tuukka Rask play as they have at times in the playoffs, either can help overcome the less than optimal defense. While that might happen, I have the Finns as fourth in the bracket.
Look for Sweden and Team North America to advance.
Schedule
Sunday, Sept. 18 – Group B preliminary vs. Russia, 3 p.m. ET
Tuesday, Sept. 20 – Group B preliminary vs. Finland, 3 p.m. ET
Thursday, Sept. 22 – Group B preliminary vs. North America, 3 p.m. ET
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