Entering Wednesday, the Bruins knew they would have at least two players participating in February’s 4 Nations Face-Off, which will be held in Boston and Montreal, with Brad Marchand named to Team Canada and Charlie McAvoy named to Team USA months ago now.
But the Bruins will have at least one more player involved in the tourney, as it turns out, with center Elias Lindholm named to Team Sweden’s roster, as revealed by the NHL Network at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – NOVEMBER 03: Elias Lindholm #28 of the Boston Bruins skates against Will Borgen #3 of the Seattle Kraken during the first period at TD Garden on November 03, 2024. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
In his first season with Boston, the 30-year-old Lindholm has recorded three goals and 13 points through 27 games with the Bruins, and has won 52.3 percent of his faceoffs. Lindholm’s 13 points are tied for the 13th-most among all Swedish-born forwards this season, while his success rate at the dot is the third-best among Swedish players with at least 200 faceoffs taken this season.
Lindholm joins a Sweden club that’s pretty loaded down the middle, with New York’s Mika Zibanejad, Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson, the Golden Knights’ William Karlsson, and Minnesota’s Joel Eriksson Ek among the other notable centers that’ll skate for the club in this tournament. But this is where Lindholm’s versatility could benefit him, as Lindholm has also played some right wing in the past, and as recently as his post-deadline run with Vancouver last season.
Oct 31, 2024; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm (27) reacts against the Carolina Hurricanes during the third period at Lenovo Center. (James Guillory/Imagn Images)
Elsewhere on the Team Sweden roster, one notable Bruins-related absence comes with Hampus Lindholm left off the Swedish roster. Of course, the decision to leave Lindholm off the roster comes with the 6-foot-4 defender currently on the shelf with a lower-body injury, and with Lindholm not considered close to a return to play.
Even so, it’s still a definite bummer for Lindholm, as he was certainly making a sizable push to represent his country (something he has not done since the 2018 Worlds) with a strong start to the 2024-25 season, with three goals and seven points in 17 games prior to suffering a lower-body injury back on Nov. 12.
A Lindholm-less Sweden blue line is still absolutely stacked, though, and especially on the left side, with Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman, the Sabres’ Rasmus Dahlin, Edmonton’s Mattias Ekholm, and the Panthers’ Gustav Forsling among the left-side options for Tre Kronor in this tournament.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – DECEMBER 03: Joonas Korpisalo #70 of the Boston Bruins looks on during the second period of the game against the Detroit Red Wings at TD Garden on December 03, 2024. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
And on the ‘snub’ front for the Bruins, and even with a strong rebound season underway, netminder Joonas Korpisalo apparently did not do enough to make Team Finland’s roster.
Among the group of 56 goalies with at least eight games played this season, Korpisalo’s 2.39 goals against average ranks seventh (and is tops among all Finnish-born goaltenders), while his .909 save percentage ranks 15th, and trails only Nashville’s Juuse Saros (.911) for tops among all options for Team Finland.
Korpisalo has also posted a high-danger save percentage of .855, which is the fourth-best mark among 48 NHL goalies with at least 500 all-situation minutes played this season.
Finland will instead go with a goaltending trio featuring Saros, Vancouver’s Kevin Lankinen, and Buffalo’s Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
Oct 16, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) before the game against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena. (Ron Chenoy/Imagn Images)
In theory, the Bruins could have just one more player in the running for a spot in this tournament, with Team USA’s full roster set to be announced later Wednesday night (on TNT), and with B’s franchise netminder Jeremy Swayman a definite option for the Americans.
For Swayman (and other American-born goaltenders in the convo), the battle seems to be for the full of third goaltender, as Team USA will undoubtedly be headlined by Winnipeg netminder and two-time Vezina winner Connor Hellebuyck and is shaping up to have the Stars’ Jake Oettinger as its number two.
Swayman has represented his country on multiple occasions, and was most recently on Team USA at the 2022 World Championships, with four wins and a .910 in seven games.
