San Jose Sharks winger William Eklund will probably be among the many 13 forwards chosen for Sweden’s entry into the 4 Nations Face-Off, in response to a printed report Monday in that nation.
The 4 Nations Face-Off, which takes place in February, options groups from america, Canada, Finland and Sweden.
The official 23-player rosters for Sweden and Finland will probably be unveiled on Wednesday at 11 a.m. (PST) on ESPN and the NHL Community. Rosters for the American and Canadian groups will probably be introduced on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. (PST) on TNT.
Every nation’s roster — which incorporates three goalies, seven defensemen, and 13 forwards — needed to be submitted by Monday. This might be Eklund’s first time taking part in on Sweden’s males’s nationwide group.
After Sunday’s NHL video games, Eklund was fourth amongst all Swedish-born forwards with 22 factors, trailing solely New Jersey’s Jesper Bratt (31), Los Angeles’ Adrian Kempe (25), and Detroit’s Lucas Raymond (24).
Going into the Sharks’ recreation towards the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, Eklund had 13 factors in his final 11 video games. Eklund has additionally improved his 200-foot recreation and advanced into one of many Sharks’ most relied-upon penalty-killing forwards.
Eklund, drafted seventh general by the Sharks in 2021, is taking part in on San Jose’s prime line with Macklin Celebrini and Fabian Zetterlund. However his potential to kill penalties and match up towards expert strains was thought-about to be Eklund’s greatest hope of being considered one of Sweden’s 13 forwards for the occasion, which can see video games held in Boston and Montreal.
Sweden performs Canada on Feb. 12 and Finland on Feb. 15 at Bell Centre in Montreal. It finishes the round-robin portion of the match by dealing with america on Feb. 17 at TD Backyard in Boston. The 2 prime groups will play one another within the ultimate on Feb. 20 in Boston.
Expressen’s report didn’t point out which different gamers are on the Swedish roster. Zetterlund, with 9 objectives and 19 factors in 27 video games this season, was additionally regarded as within the combine for a roster spot.
Gamers already named to Sweden’s roster are defensemen Gustav Forsling of Florida, Victor Hedman of Tampa Bay, and ex-Shark Erik Karlsson of Pittsburgh. The forwards already named have been Nashville’s Filip Forsberg, Toronto’s William Nylander, and Mika Zibanejad of the New York Rangers.
Sharks middle Mikael Granlund is projected to be considered one of Finland’s 13 forwards. He’s a veteran of worldwide hockey tournaments and has spoken earlier than about how a lot it means to him to characterize his nation.
Initially Revealed: December 2, 2024 at 5:35 PM PST