Ducks' Carlsson eager to learn from top-level countrymen at 4 Nations Face-Off

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- On Saturday night in the bowels of Crypto.com Arena, the equipment bags for the Anaheim Ducks were piling up for their bus trip back to Orange County for a two-week hiatus. 

While the orange-trimmed black duffels stacked up one-by-one by Ducks players making a quick exit riding high with victory pizza in hand following a shootout win over the rival Los Angeles Kings, bag No. 91 was sent off the other direction with the glow of three golden crowns peeking out of the zipped-open duffel for Saturday’s shootout-sealing scorer.

That bag would be following Leo Carlsson to Montreal, where the 20-year-old Swedish center will be Anaheim’s lone representative at the 4 Nations Face-Off, an NHL-sponsored international competition which begins tonight with Canada hosting Sweden at 5 p.m. Pacific on TNT.

This will be Carlsson’s second call-up to a senior national team event, but the first in a full best-on-best format with the best NHL players Sweden, Finland, Canada and the United States have to offer.

“It means a lot,” Carlsson said. “I remember, the first time (at the 2023 World Championships) was really special. This tournament is just going to be sick. All the best players in the country. It means a lot. It’s an honor to play for Sweden, for your country.”

In Sweden’s first two practices in Montreal, Carlsson has been the team’s 13th forward, pointing to the young Duck likely being the healthy scratch for the Tre Kronor. Carlsson said he didn’t have any expectations for the role he would play for the national team, but Sweden coach Sam Hallam knows what Carlsson can bring when called upon.

“Love the coach,” Carlsson said. “Great coach. Love his system.”

Carlsson had represented Sweden at the U-18 and U-20 levels before his first senior team experience at the 2023 Worlds under Hallam. As an 18-year-old a month away from being drafted No. 2 overall by Anaheim, Carlsson co-led Sweden with three goals in eight games.

When named to the Sweden 4 Nations roster in December, Carlsson was far and away the youngest player named to any of the four teams by some two years and 126 days.

“He deserves to make the team. Not because he’s young, because he’s a heck of a player," Sweden general manager Josef Boumedienne said. "He’s one of the best play drivers in the NHL throughout the neutral zone, the way he carries the puck, the way he distributes the puck… He’s not on the team because he’s young, he’s on the team because he deserves to be on the team.”

There is something to the youth component for Carlsson’s inclusion, though. At No. 2 overall, Carlsson was the highest-selected Swedish forward in the NHL Draft since Gabriel Landeskog was also taken No. 2 overall by Colorado in 2011, and the highest Swedish player overall since defenseman Rasmus Dahlin was taken No. 1 overall by Buffalo in 2018. 

With NHL players heading back to the Olympics next year in Milan, the top-level future of the Swedish program is in the hands of players like Carlsson and Dahlin, who was also selected for this tournament.

Nashville forward Filip Forsberg, who was one of the four initial selections to Sweden’s 4 Nations roster back in the summer, recalled his own experience of an early call-up to the national team for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. At 22 years old, the 2016 World Cup was his first best-on-best tournament, but also the last for Tre Kronor legends Daniel and Henrik Sedin.

“It was an awesome experience for me playing with them,” said Forsberg, now 30. “So, there are certainly a lot of things that (Carlsson) can take from it, but I think there's a lot of things that he can bring to the table as well. He’s not just there to watch and learn. I think he's a great player.”

With players like Forsberg and Swedish legends like defensemen Erik Karlsson and Victor Hedman, Carlsson said he’s going to absorb as much as he can from his top-level countrymen.

“So many guys to talk to, you know?” Carlsson said. “So, exciting. I’m going to take the chance to (talk to them). See how professional they are off the ice, on the ice, and what to do with habits and stuff.”

Carlsson had been projected to make the Swedish roster since the summer, but as the season wore on, he wasn’t a shoo-in, as his point production had taken a dip in his sophomore season.

In 55 games as a rookie, Carlsson netted 12 goals and 29 points, good for a 0.53 point-per-game pace. In 48 games this season, Carlsson has scored nine goals and 19 points, a 0.40 point-per-game pace.

However, to a man on the Ducks, whether its longtime linemate Alex Killorn, leading scorer Troy Terry or coach Greg Cronin, they all point to the same strength Boumedienne pointed out: neutral zone speed.

“I think that still is his greatest skill and talent,” Killorn said. Probably only two guys in our team, maybe (Zegras) too, Troy and Leo can dice through a neutral zone with their talent. I think this year he's gotten a lot better at winning those little battles in the o-zone that's helped us get some more offensive zone possession.”

Both Killorn and Terry have seen improvements from Carlsson in the full responsibilities of an NHL centerman. Killorn took note of Carlsson’s face-off refinements, where the Swede has gone from winning 34.8% of draws last season to 40.2% on the dot this season. Terry remarked on the growth of the 20-year-old’s 200-foot game.

“He takes pride in both ends,” Terry said. “Whenever you've got your star player of your future that wants to play in the D-zone as much as the offensive zone, it just makes you happy to see that. He wants the puck, he commands it, he holds onto it.”

From a current Ducks perspective, Anaheim hopes that Carlsson’s recent run of form–the noticeable neutral-zone charges, his three assists in his last three games and the rush of his signature shootout-winning move in LA–can bloom into impactful production when the Ducks return from the 4 Nations break on Feb. 22 in Boston.

“When Leo skates, he's very visible,” Cronin said. “We all talk about him getting into the third circle area, the middle third of the ice. I think his opportunity to play at an elite level with that 4 Nations tournament should give him a window into a high level of hockey and some role models that he can watch.”

After opening with Canada on Wednesday, Sweden will face rival Finland on Saturday in Montreal at 10 a.m. on ABC and will take on the United States on Monday in Boston at 5 p.m. on TNT. The 4 Nations Face-Off championship game is Feb. 20 in Boston at 5 p.m. on ESPN.