Team Sweden Already Facing Injury Concerns

The 4 Nations Face-Off is a little under a month away and Team Sweden is already dealing with numerous key injuries.

Jan 22, 2025; Newark, New Jersey, USA; New Jersey Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom (25) makes a save against the Boston Bruins during the first period at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images / Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

The 4 Nations Face-Off is a little under a month away, and Team Sweden may already be digging deep into their reserve list as injuries pile up around the NHL. Multiple key Swedish players have recently suffered lengthy injuries and have put their spot on Sweden’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster in question.

New Jersey Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom will miss time with a lower-body injury, Vegas Golden Knights forward William Karlsson is out week-to-week also with a lower-body injury, and Ottawa Senators netminder Linus Ullmark hasn’t played in over a month.

In Markstrom’s case, the Devils are lucky his injury isn’t worse, but he will likely miss playing with Team Sweden.

“The bad news is for Team Sweden,” Elliotte Friedman said on the 32 Thoughts Podcast. “If it’s four weeks minimum, that takes him out of the 4 Nations. I don’t think he’s going to be available… all of a sudden, Sweden has got some real injury concerns.”

There has been no further update from the Devils on Markstrom other than he is going to miss “some time.” According to ESPN’s Kevin Weekes, Markstrom is dealing with a knee sprain.

**Medical Update 🚨 🚑 **

I’m told the @NJDevils club feared it would be worse, but hearing it’s a knee sprain, will miss some time, and 4 Nations Faceoff could be in jeopardy for G Markstrom .#NJDevils #HockeyX pic.twitter.com/5tUrsqiF2B

— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) January 23, 2025

Meanwhile in Ottawa, the Senators have been without Ullmark since just before the Christmas break with a back injury. It seems like the Senators would much rather see Ullmark continue to heal or mitigate injury risk by having him sit out the international tournament.

“You can tell the Senators are squirrelly about Ullmark,” Fridman said. “If he comes back and plays, you can sense… that they aren’t thrilled about this.”

Friedman notes that the Senators aren’t the only team in the NHL hesitant to send their goalie to the 4 Nations, and one of the others is just a replacement name.

“The replacement for Markstrom would probably be Samuel Ersson,” Friedman said of the Philadelphia Flyers netminder. “Who’s been injured an in and out of the lineup all year. I’m not convinced Philadelphia would be crazy about that either.”

The tournament hasn’t even kicked off and Team Sweden might already be down multiple key pieces. Their top two goalies might miss the tournament and their replacement goalie might also be questionable.

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