2023 World Junior Championship Preview: Team Sweden
Sweden’s past decade at the World Junior Championship will go down in history.
Not because of their success – they haven’t won gold since 2012. But for the inability to turn dominant round-robin performances year after year into something tangible. Sweden won 54 consecutive round robin games but struggled to win when it matters, despite years of having one of the most stacked teams.
So there always feels like a bit of pressure on the junior team, fair or not. They’re talented once again – a real medal contender – but it’s all about putting everything together. Out are Jesper Wallstedt, Simon Edvinsson, Emil Andrae, Theodor Niederbach and Oskar Olausson and in are the next wave of stars like Fabian Lysell, Isak Rosen and Jonathan Lekkerimäki. It’s an exciting roster again, no doubt, but with Canada sitting with them in Group A, the fight is just beginning.
Here’s a preview of who you need to know ahead of Sweden’s gold-medal attempt in Halifax:
Goaltenders
After serving as Sweden’s third goalie during the summer, Carl Lindbom – the lone drafted goaltender on the roster – is ready to take over for Jesper Wallstedt. The 19-year-old was a seventh-round pick by the Vegas Golden Knights in 2021, and since then, he has made his mark as one of the better goalies in HockeyAllsvenskan. He’s the lone U-20 goalie in the second-tier Swedish league and a big reason why they’re one of the top teams in the league in the fight to get back to the top echelon of pro hockey in Sweden.
As to the backup role, Ian Blomqvist will likely secure the job. The 19-year-old has limited experience with Sweden’s U-20 program, but won both of his starts at the Five Nations tournament last month. Granted, one of those starts were against a younger Finnish U-19 roster whose best players were with the main U-20 team, but scouts seemed impressed with his effort, regardless. Undersized USHL goalie Marcus Brännman also has limited experience with the national team.
Defensemen
Typically, Sweden is a defensive powerhouse, and it was one of its strongest positions at the summer tournament. But unfortunately, the team will be without Simon Edvinsson, Elias Salomonsson, Mattias Havelid or Anton Olsson in the lineup, which is going to hurt.
Swedes don’t have any top-flight defenders, but they have a handful of NHL-drafted prospects, though. New York Islanders prospect Calle Odelius is a tremendous skater and has the energy and physique to play a ton of minutes. He won’t wow you in the offensive department, but he’s an all-around reliable two-way defender and can be tough to beat in 1-on-1 situations.
An interesting name to follow is Adam Engstrom, who lined up on Sweden’s top pairing at the Five Nations. The 2022 third-round pick by Montreal has looked solid with Rogle in the top Swedish league and looked like a man amongst kids in his last U-20 domestic league game with a four-point effort. He’s played around the 20-minute mark on a few occasions in the SHL, which is rare for prospects his age. Engstrom will likely start Florida Panthers prospect Ludvig Jansson, who he played along with in November. He was on the summer team, and looked decent in a depth role. He’ll be counted on more this time around.
Another name to watch is HV71’s Victor Sjoholm. The undersized, undrafted 19-year-old skates well, elevates his game against tougher competition, and is an absolute workhorse. At the very least, you can count on him to give it his all every single night out there. There’s also Elias Pettersson, a Canucks prospect (yup) coming off a couple of good outings with the U-20 team. His SHL play hasn’t been exceptional, but he’ll generate some chances from the point and is highly competitive.
Forwards
Sweden won’t have the flashiest offense, but they’ll definitely have at least three lines capable of scoring with a solid checking line to boot. So far, San Jose prospect Filip Bystedt has looked like Sweden’s most dangerous forward internationally, with the 2022 first-rounder putting up 13 points in six games this year. Expect him to be one of the play drivers in Halifax this year.
Among notable returning NHL-drafted prospects are Isak Rosen (Buffalo), Fabian Lysell (Boston) and Liam Ohgren (Minnesota), who will all be counted on to do a ton of damage. Rosen had four goals with Sweden at the summer tournament and has followed it up with an impressive start to his AHL rookie campaign with Rochester. He boasts an excellent mix of speed, puck-moving skills and has a blister of a wrister. He’s another key piece of Buffalo’s future.
Lysell, one of the top scorers on the AHL’s Providence Bruins, has been electric this season. He scored twice at the summer tournament, but they were both absolute snipes. Lysell has a rocket of a shot, boasts the speed of a Hypercar at Le Mans and can wow you with his immense skill around the net. Ohgren had a quiet showing at the summer tournament with just one assist in seven games but look for a more elevated role this time around. He has spent the entire year in the second-tier Swedish league with Djurgardens and has been a good complementary scorer. He’s a Swedish national team favorite, having represented his country at nearly every level already, and this will be a good chance for Wild fans to get a closer look at their 2022 first-rounder.
Vancouver Canucks prospect Jonathan Lekkerimäki recently missed time with an injury and hasn’t found the scoresheet with Djurgardens since Nov. 4. Still, he’ll be one of the players Sweden leans on to produce offense, something he didn’t do much of in the summer after obliterating the scoring race at the U-18 World Championship. When he’s at the top of the game, he can absolutely be a show-stopper – this should be the best hockey action of his entire season.
Going back to the Sabres, and sticking with the Djurgardens theme, Noah Ostlund is another with big promise, The 2022 first-rounder has 11 points in 19 games this year and had some decent looks at the Five Nations in November. He was exceptional at the 2022 U-18s and has these bursts where he can be unstoppable.
Ottawa Senators third-round pick Oskar Pettersson is another notable name to watch. He’s played in seven games with the Swedish U-20 team this year with five goals and 11 points, making him one of the most proficient scorers thus far. He’s probably more of a third-liner on this team, but he’s riding a nice momentum wave. St. Louis Blues draft pick Simon Robertsson and Winnipeg’s Fabian Wagner should also produce some offense deeper in the lineup.
NHL Draft watch
One of the biggest draft darlings this year is Leo Carlsson, who went from a budding young star in the Swedish system to a play-driver with Orebo’s men’s team. He’s also second behind Bystedt for the Swedish U-20 scoring lead in national team competition this year, which has helped bring him into top five conversation for the 2023 draft. This is his coming-out party for fans who don’t follow European prospects – get ready to fall in love with his game.
One name to watch closely is Axel Sandin-Pellikka. The 17-year-old is projected by many to be a possible first-rounder, and this will be his first U-20 national team action. I don’t expect him to get a ton of playing time, but he’s done a good job against men in the SHL and has been excellent with the U-18 team. Keep your eyes on him.
Projection
Sweden will miss some key defenders in Halifax, but the offense is solid and goaltending should be good enough. Sweden should manage to fight for second in the group and, but they’ll need to play all out every night to prepare for the medal round. No matter how good the team is, though, Sweden has a tendency to be a powerhouse team in the preliminary round before falling apart when it matters. That almost happened to Latvia, of all teams, at the summer tournament. They’ve got loads of skill and some others players looking to make a name for themselves, but they’ll have to have some high-flying, high-scoring games against some of the more defensively inclined teams to make it work. They’re definitely capable of that, but I’m pegging them for the bronze game.