Swedish hockey icon Peter Forsberg offers effusive praise for budding Detroit star Lucas Raymond

For Team Sweden, the 4 Nations Face-Off ended Monday, beating Team USA 2–1 but having not accrued sufficient points to advance to Thursday night's championship game.  Despite that collective disappointment, it was a productive tournament for budding Detroit Red Wings superstar Lucas Raymond, who picked up three assists in his team's three games, and that performance did not escape the attention of one icon of Swedish hockey.

Peter Forsberg—a two-time Stanley Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and a Hart Trophy winner—told the Swedish outlet HockeyNews.se that Raymond "has grown into a superstar."  "He is not afraid of a dime, anywhere on the ice," Forsberg continued. "He does his thing. He doesn't look at who is coming in behind him, he just goes for it. He does good things, he comes from the corners." (Translated by Google) 

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That Raymond has taken that step is certainly no surprise to Detroit fans, but the affirmation of a bona fide, preeminent icon of Swedish hockey is nonetheless high and meaningful praise.  Forsberg's winning goal in the shootout of the 1994 Olympic gold medal game against Canada was immortalized on a Swedish stamp, and the move he used to score it (a deke into a one-handed backhand finish) became known as "the Forsberg."

Because of Sweden's struggles as a team and the understandably outsized attention dedicated to the USA-Canada rivalry (around which the entire event has ultimately been built), Raymond didn't command quite the national attention he may have had the team played its way into a final.  However, that chance will come again soon for Raymond at the 2026 Olympics, where he may be able to play his way onto a postage stamp.  When he does so, he may well have Red Wings teammate Simon Edvinsson (left at home this time around, in favor of more established commodities on the blue line) by his side.

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