It is, Hallam points out, probably the strength of the team, a group led by future Hall of Famers Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Erik Karlsson of the Pittsburgh Penguins, two-time Stanley Cup winner Gustav Forsling of the Florida Panthers and Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres, who selected him No. 1 in the 2018 NHL Draft.
In the 24-year-old Broberg, Team Sweden is adding a mobile puck-carrier who is efficient at both ends of the ice and is 11 years younger than Ekholm. The left-handed shooting defenseman, who has 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in 42 games for the Blues this season, has been far better than can be judged by his statistics, Hallam said.
“Seeing Broberg the way he’s playing with the Blues right now, the minutes he’s been playing and playing against top competition, he’s been great night after night,” Hallam said.
Players joining Broberg on the roster who did not participate at 4 Nations include defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Toronto Maple Leafs, forwards Gabriel Landeskog of the Colorado Avalanche, Pontus Holmberg of the Lightning and Alexander Wennberg of the San Jose Sharks, and goalie Jesper Wallstedt of the Minnesota Wild.
Hedman had shoulder surgery last month but is expected to be ready for the Olympics. In fact, Team Sweden management would not be surprised if the Lightning captain is back for the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series against the Boston Bruins at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Feb. 1.
Players who competed at 4 Nations who did not make Team Sweden this time around include Ekholm, forwards Viktor Arvidsson of the Bruins and Gustav Nyquist of the Winnipeg Jets, and goalie Linus Ullmark of the Ottawa Senators.
Ullmark took a leave of absence from the Senators for personal reasons this week, but Hallam said the decision to leave the veteran goalie off the team already had been made by that time.
In steps Wallstedt, the 23-year-old rookie who entered Friday with an 11-2-3 record and an NHL-leading .928 save percentage, and ranked fourth in goals-against average at 2.21 (minimum 10 games).
“We had him as the third goalie at the World Championships a couple of years ago,” Hallam said. “For us, in the situation, he’s always been a top guy in his junior career too. We’ve just been waiting for him to take that next step and he’s done that this year.
“We’ve known how good he is. We’re thrilled that he’s now getting to show everyone else that.”
In the end, Hallam said the Team Sweden brass is confident in what could be accomplished in Italy.
“We felt after 4 Nations that we could take another step,” he said. “We feel we have the team that can potentially do that.
“When you look at it, the U.S. and Canada have the deepest teams. We feel we’re right there in the next group of teams with Finland and Czechia. And in a short tournament like this, anything can happen in one game.
“We feel we have the potential to beat anyone.”
