World Junior Preview: Can Sweden Get Out of Their Funk?

Each year, they're so good, yet so bad when it matters.

Sweden is always a major threat to win gold at the World Juniors. In In fact, since 2007, the team has never finished worse than fourth.

But yet, they only have one gold medal to their name.

The Swedes have finished in fourth an astounding five times, so at least they’re consistent. But consistent doesn’t matter when your biggest stars can’t seal the deal year after year. Once again, the team looks destined for a good result, but there’s even more excitement in the air.

For starters, Alex Nylander is back. Nylander was one of the top players in the entire tournament a year ago, repeating his strong performance from 2016. Then there’s Rasmus Dahlin, the most-likely choice to go number one overall in this year’s NHL Entry Draft. The skaters are good, the goaltending is solid and the team has a lot of experience together.

The United States may seem like the tournament favorites, but the Swedes may have something to say about it.

Goaltending: Sweden is covered in net with Filip Gustavsson leading the way. Gustavsson, a Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick, played a game last year for the Swedes as an 18-year-old and went on to have a strong World Junior Summer Showcase tournament back in August. The top goaltender at the 2016 World Under-18's, Gustavsson has looked good at pretty much every tournament he’s represented the Swedes in and has played against men for a few years now. Gustavsson will be one of the top goalies in the tournament, and he’ll need to be against Russia and the Czech Republic’s strong offense. Olle Eriksson Ek should also earn a start or two in the Swedish net, with the Anaheim Ducks prospect having also represented the Swedes at every level since the U16' back in 2014-2015. He's a big goalie that will fight for every minute of ice time before inevitably taking the starting role next year.

Defencemen: We’ll save you the long write-up about Dahlin, because it would be tough to believe you don’t know anything about him yet. Dahlin’s second attempt at the World Juniors will see the Frolunda blueliner earn more ice time and more opportunities to lead his nation out of the bronze medal game and into the fight where it really matters, for gold.

Joining him on the top pairing is Timothy Liljegren, who, at this point last year, was expected to be the top defenceman chosen in the draft. He would end up falling to 17th to the Toronto Maple Leafs, but has been good with the Toronto Marlies in his first season in North America and he has medals for Sweden at the U17 and U18 level. Liljegren didn’t represent his country at last year’s World Juniors, but the future defensive star played well for Sweden in the summer at the World Junior Summer Showcase.

Vegas Golden Knights first rounder Erik Brannstrom is currently in his second full season with HV71 and he's more than suitable to be a top four defenseman for the Swedes. One of Sweden's best players at the 2015 and 2016 Hlinka Memorial tournament's, Brannstrom moves the puck well and skates fluently, but he has very little experience playing on smaller ice. He should help chip in on the offense and will get lots of power play opportunities, so they’re set in that department.

Another NHL Draft pick, Arizona’s Filip Westerlund, is hoping his first World Juniors is a successful World Juniors. A much more relaxed, stay-at-home option compared to Brannstrom, Westerlund isn't the best skater but excels in keeping the puck away from his own net, also known as doing his job well. Some of Westerlund's best action this season came with Frolunda at the Champions Hockey League, while also having a good SHL campaign this year.

Forwards: Goals, goals and… did you say goals? That’s what’s on tap for Sweden, something that doesn’t seem to change ever, except when it truly matters the most. It all starts with Nylander, the Rochester Americans forward heading into his third world junior tournament. Assuming he doesn't get hurt or fail miserably at the tournament, Nylander should be able to make his way into the top ten of all-time World Juniors scoring. In fact, if he got 12 points for the second straight year, he'd be tied with Niklas Sundström for eighth, one position behind Swedish legend Markus Naslund.

Nylander's centre will be Lias Andersson, a seventh overall pick by the New York Rangers in 2017. An extremely hard working forward with a great two-way game, Andersson has a knack for scoring and has already won a Swedish Hockey League championship. One of Frolunda's best players, Andersson also has three goals and four points in five international games for Sweden in U20 exhibition games and should be one of the top forwards in Group B.

One of Sweden’s strongest forwards, Elias Pettersson, is looking for redemption for his nation as well. The fifth overall pick in the most recent draft by Vancouver, Pettersson has absolutely absolutely crushed the Swedish league with 31 points by the time December rolled around, putting him well ahead of some key veterans. While Pettersson only had one point at last year's tournament, he did have 10 points in 14 games with the U20 team last year and he's destined for many, many points this year, especially if he does get to play with Nylander. More of a playmaker than a goal scorer, Pettersson is at the top of his game and he's ready to dazzle in North America.

Potential first-round pick Isac Lundeström will be a player worth keeping an eye on. Likely a second line forward for the Swedes, Lundeström has improved mightily in his second SHL campaign and had a strong Under-18 World Junior tournament back in April. A good tournament for Lundeström could be what keeps him projected in the first round.

With an injury earlier in the year, there were some questions as to whether Jesper Boqvist would be ready to go for the tournament this time around. The New Jersey Devils prospect didn't make the squad a year ago, but with a strong four game stint with the U19 team last year followed by a good stat in the Swedish U20 league this season, Boqvist has the tools and the talent to make things happen.

Of the summer showcase stars, Fredrik Karlström and Oskar Steen deserve attention.,Karlström hasn't scored much for Linkoping in the SHL this year but has been fantastic for Sweden in U20 action this year and had a good showing at last year's World Juniors. A Dallas Stars prospect, Karlström likely slots in as Sweden’s second line centre, a player that should be dangerous from the first puck drop. And then there’s Steen, Boston's sixth round pick last year. The short, shifty skater had four goals at the summer tournament, more points than he has with Farjestad of the SHL. Still, he's looking good enough to score some goals at the Juniors and should be a quiet nuisance for the Tre Kronor.

Returning forward Tim Söderlund will be an important bottom six role play for the Swedes. A fast, hard-working forward with the ability to rotate among forward positions, Söderlund isn't afraid to get into the dirty areas to work extra hard for his goals. He also has five points in six U20 games for his nation so far this year on top of a three point performance in last year's tournament in Montreal and while he likely won’t pot many this year, he’ll likely chip in a goal or two along the way.

Projection: This seems like a team that would benefit more from playing on bigger European ice with their speed and skill, but they have enough talent and depth to really make a splash. In fact, they’re almost guaranteed to make the medal round and truly look like the second best team in the tournament. The Swedes have a lot of turnover this season with 15 goals missing from players in the their top five scorers from last year alone, but the offense from up front and the back end look too tasty to really be nostalgic. With two of the best scoring threats in Pettersson and Nylander, the Swedes are as dangerous as ever and really can’t afford another tough loss in the bronze medal game.

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