Sweden can stack their lineup for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-off with some of the best players in the NHL, whether they play defense, forward, or goalie.
The country named its first six skaters, including Gustav Forsling (Florida), Filip Forsberg (Nashville), William Nylander (Toronto), Mika Zibanejad (New York), Victory Hedman (Tampa Bay), and Erik Karlsson of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Karlsson will join Sidney Crosby, who will represent Team Canada and is the odds-on favorite to wear the captain’s “C” on his sweater.
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Considering that Finland and the United States are the only two other teams at the event, there’s not much room for other Pittsburgh players to skate the tournament.
Given the circumstances, only a few Penguins players have a shot at playing at the first-ever 4 Nations Face-off. One of them is Swedish forward Rickard Rakell, who should get the call and skate in Sweden’s bottom six.
After 18 games, the 31-year-old from Syndbyberg, Sweden, has six goals, ranking sixth among Scandinavian skaters. Moreover, Rakell is one of nine players to reach double digits in points, with 11, to go along with his plus-5 rating, the second-best total of Sweden players.
Amazingly, Rakell has the best totals of all Penguins players in that category. Despite playing on a team with a goal differential of minus-31, which ranks 31st in the league, only Blake Lizotte (plus-1) and Rakell have positive plus/minus totals.
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Meanwhile, only five Swedish players have more shots on goal than Rakell, who has 46. With a shooting percentage of 13.0, he has the fourth-best total of right-wingers, except for Jonathan Lekkerimaki, who has now played two NHL games and ranks second.
In the three full seasons since joining the Penguins in February 2022, here is a breakdown of Rakell’s rankings amongst Swedish players and Swedish right-wingers:
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Goals: 49 – 8th/3rd
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Assists: 59 – 21st/4th
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Points: 108 – 15th/4th
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Shots: 454 – 11th/3rd
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Power Play Goals: 15 – 9th/3rd
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Even Strength Goals: 34 – 7th/3rd
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Points-Per-Game: 0.64 – 16th/4th
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Game Winning Goals: 4 – 26th/5th
Sweden’s strength is down the middle, with Zibanejad, William Karlsson, Elias Pettersson, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Mikael Backlund as options. Additionally, they are stacked on the left wing with Jesper Bratt, Lucas Raymond, Forsberg, Victor Olofsson, Fabian Zetterlund, and William Eklund.
Moreover, Sweden has some talented defenders besides Hedman and Karlsson, including Rasmus Dahlin, Rasmus Andersson, Mattias Ekholm, and Philip Broberg.
However, Sweden’s weakness is on the right wing. After Nylander and Adrian Kempe, it’s anyone’s game, and Rakell deserves all the recognition he’s earned. He should be a lock to play in the bottom six.
Despite his previous international success at the junior level, Rakell has played 48 Stanley Cup playoff games and has twice been in the Western Conference Final.
Even if the coaching staff wants players who can be difference-makers, there’s no denying how much Rakell has meant to the Penguins’ attack in the past three seasons, which should bode well with the selection committee.
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