Leo Carlsson Named to Sweden's 4 Nation Face-Off Roster
4 Nation Face-Off rosters were announced on Wednesday, with Leo Carlsson named as the lone Ducks' representative
Wednesday evening, the NHL announced rosters for the upcoming "4 Nations Face-Off" set to take place from Feb. 12 to Feb. 20 in place of an All-Star weekend.
The tournament will feature NHL players from the United States, Canada, Sweden, and Finland.
Games will be held at the Bell Center in Montreal and TD Garden in Boston.
Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson (19) was named to Sweden's roster and will be the only representative from the Ducks organization in the tournament.
"I'm not aware of where his status is with the Swedish team," Ducks head coach Greg Cronin said this morning before the official announcement was made. "I can only speak to what I've seen this year, and I think Leo would be the first to tell you that he's played well, but he can play a lot better."
Carlsson will be by far the youngest player at the tournament and was the only teenager named to any of the four rosters. He's two years and 126 days younger than the second-youngest player in the tournament: Brock Faber (22) of the United States, representing the Minnesota Wild.
Carlsson is currently listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury suffered on Nov. 25.
He has six goals and 11 points in 20 games for the Ducks this season, and his 18 career NHL goals is third among Swedish-born teenagers behind Gabriel Landeskog and Lucas Raymond.
Carlsson is one of the more detail-oriented, 200-foot sophomore NHL players in recent memory. He's devastating as an F3 forechecker, doesn't stop scanning the entire ice surface whether in possession or not, and explodes in transition, manufacturing and leading endless rush attacks.
He's struggled in the faceoff dot this year, only winning 31.5% of his draws. It's unclear what his role will be on the Swedish team, but he can play anywhere in their lineup.
Carlsson has represented Sweden at the 2022 U18 World Championship, where he scored three points in two games and won a gold medal. In 2023, he played in the World Junior Championships and scored six points in seven games.
He last donned a Sweden jersey just before his draft in May of 2023 at the IIHF World Championship, when he scored five points in eight games.