With rosters due in less than a week, does Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson have a chance to play his way onto Sweden's roster?
On December 2nd, Sweden, Canada, Finland, and the United States will have to submit their rosters for February's Four Nations Face-Off. A few Detroit Red Wings have all but secured their places on rosters. Dylan Larkin should have no trouble finding his way to the Team USA roster, while Lucas Raymond is a lock for the Swedes. One player whose status is less certain is defenseman Simon Edvinsson.
With just 45 career NHL games to his name, Edvinsson doesn't have a long NHL track record, but with his performance this season, he's making a claim to a spot on the Tre Kronor blue line.
After last night, Edvinsson has now played 20 games, recording three goals and seven assists for 10 points while averaging 20:53 a night. On the top pair beside Moritz Seider, he's helped achieve what seemed impossible last season: taking Seider's impossibly difficult minutes (characterized by defensive zone starts and elite competition) and coming out with clean underlying numbers. Meanwhile, his offensive game is taking flight, whether in his OT winner to beat the Penguins in Pittsburgh or the confidence he shows jumping into the play.
Sweden has a number of strong candidates to man its blue line for the tournament, from legacy picks like Erik Karlsson and Victor Hedman to emergent stars like Gustav Forsling and Rasmus Dahlin. Edvinsson is still a long-shot, and the most likely outcome is that he joins the Swedes for the '26 Olympics, with his own emergence having come a hair too late for the Four Nations. However, in the featured video above, I discuss the possibility of Edvinsson cracking the Swedish roster.
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