As The Hockey News' Ian Kennedy says, no nation at the IIHF women's World Championships has made more gains in recent seasons than Sweden, and their youthful roster. Sweden has been a nation on the rise in the international women's game. From their silver medal at the U-18 Worlds in 2023, to an overtime quarterfinal against Canada at the 2023 World Championships, Sweden is ready to take their spot among the elite nations in women's hockey. Sweden's rise is another example of the IIHF's need to expand the World Championship's top division, or to removed tiered groupings, as nations like Sweden don't get a fair chance to compete against the best each year. Here's a deeper dive into Sweden's roster. OLSSON'S RETURN A MAJOR BOOST Following a devastating hit at by Petra Nieminen on Hanna Olsson in the SDHL, the Swedish star's season ended, and Frolunda's hopes took a major hit. Olsson was expected to miss the entire SDHL season, and the World Championships, but she miraculously return in time for Frolunda's SDHL semi-final series. In that series, Olsson failed to register a point, which shows there's still work to do for a player who has averaged well over a point per game her entire career. But with weeks between her return and the Worlds, Olsson will be that much stronger and prepared to make an impact for Sweden. Without her, the chances of Sweden pulling off a quarterfinal upset were slim. She's a dynamic forward who has been Sweden's top forward in recent years, and her early return is a significant boost to Tre Kronor's hopes. THE YOUTH ARE COMING Lina Ljungblom would have been the youngest player in the PWHL this season had she been able to make her debut with PWHL Montreal, who drafted her last year. While it feels like many of Sweden's stars, including Ljungblom who was Sweden's top scorer in the SDHL this season, have been around forever, it's because European players often begin with their national teams at a younger age, and some players like Ljungblom, 22, and the 23-year-old Maja Nylen Persson don't take the NCAA route. Sweden's next wave including 17-year-old Hilda Svensson, who tied for the team led in points with 11 in seven games at the 2023 World Championships, 18-year-old defender Mira Jungaker, and 17-year-old Ebba Hebqvist are all back from last year's team. Young forwards Hanna Thuvik (21), Lova Blom (20), Thea Johansson (21) and Josefin Bouveng (22), will also be joined by more youth up front by 17-year-old Mira Hallin and 20-year-old Wilma Sundin. On the blueline, Sweden also gets younger with 19-year-old NCAA rookie Ida Karlsson and 21-year-old Emma Forsgren both making their senior national debuts. Sweden also got younger in net with 20-year-old Ida Boman and 22-year-old Tindra Holm joining veteran Emma Soderberg. DEPTH WILL BE A NEW FOUND STRENGTH There's no position where Sweden isn't deeper and stronger than last year. Their depth is to a point where the nation left behind veterans Emma Nordin and Michelle Lowenhielm who could both benefit this team now, but Sweden obviously has a plan for the future. On the blueline, Sweden will role six deep with Nylen Persson, Linnéa Andersson, Jungåker, and Anna Kjellbin likely comprising their top six, followed by NCAA Minnesota-Duluth pairing Karlsson and Paula Bergström rounding out the group. They should be able to take some heat off Sweden's net, and there is no significant drop from top to bottom of this group. The real question will be if youth and skill can trump experience up front. Sweden definitely is bringing one of their most skilled groups, but the youth of their forward group without former captains Nordin and Lowenhielm will be a question mark. Should Sweden have brought one or both of these forwards, even as fourth line players to be a steadying presence? That will be determined. But they will be able to roll out a talented group that can grow together as the tournament progresses. Even beyond Soderberg in net, Holm and Boman are highly capable of stepping in and seeing game time. THE SKY ISN'T THE LIMIT UNDER THE IIHF'S CURRENT MODEL No matter what Sweden does in this tournament, they'll end up facing Canada or USA in a quarterfinal. If a balanced system were designed, ridding women's hockey of the regressive tiered groups, Sweden would have a legitimate chance to beat Czechia, Finland, and Switzerland. That could give them a more favourable quarterfinal and a chance to advance to play for a medal. The way the IIHF has designed things this season, either Japan or Sweden are almost certainly destined to stay playing weaker competition, stifling their national growth. At this point in development, it would likely be better for the IIHF to run an eight team top division where all teams play each other, providing the same number of games as the men's 16 team tournament, and expand Division 1A to eight teams as well, strengthening the competition there as well. If promotion and relegation became only one team with the changed size of tournaments, it would keep competition high across the board, and create more opportunity for development among nations like Sweden.
