Is Swedens forward group still very good?

[Eye of Ra]

Well if anything Sweden's biggest problem is in the net now. They are on a tight schedule for one of their youngsters to pan out.

how so? ullmark, lehner and markström all are good nhl goalies.

where would you rank swedish forward group in best on best? 5th best?

 

[WarriorofTime]

how so? ullmark, lehner and markström all are good nhl goalies.

where would you rank swedish forward group in best on best? 5th best?

If Lehner (an NHL Backup) is their best bet, it's definitely an area of weakness. Lundqvist masked a lot of problems with Sweden's goaltender development (and he himself was a bit of a surprise as compared to where he was coming out of the Swedish youth system)

 

[Eye of Ra]

If Lehner (an NHL Backup) is their best bet, it's definitely an area of weakness. Lundqvist masked a lot of problems with Sweden's goaltender development (and he himself was a bit of a surprise as compared to where he was coming out of the Swedish youth system)

lehner have been a backup goalie just this season. if look at his stats they are not bad.

 

[WarriorofTime]

lehner have been a backup goalie just this season. if look at his stats they are not bad.

I'm not saying he is a bad goaltender, but if you look at the other Big 5 nations, Sweden is the weakest in net.

 

[Eye of Ra]

I'm not saying he is a bad goaltender, but if you look at the other Big 5 nations, Sweden is the weakest in net.

finland goalies are getting old. usa and canada goalies are up and down, no super goalies like the russians have.

 

[Eye of Ra]

(and he himself was a bit of a surprise as compared to where he was coming out of the Swedish youth system)

There are a couple of candidates:

- Hugo Alnefelt
- Jesper Wallstedt
- Filip Gustavsson
- Adam Werner
- Johan Johansson
- Erik Källgren
- Samuel Ersson
- Arvid Söderblom

 

[SoundAndFury]

how so? ullmark, lehner and markström all are good nhl goalies.

where would you rank swedish forward group in best on best? 5th best?

Lehner and Markstrom are both close or over 30 and there are no sure-fire good goalies in the 20-30 age bracket. Ullmark doesn't seem like a great option but more importantly, there is literally nothing after him. The depth situation is approaching critical levels. Lehner and Markstrom are inevitably going to start declining in a few years and then what? The situation is going to be dire unless someone new emerges.

The forward group is definitely not something Sweden should be worried about, they are solid between 2-4.

finland goalies are getting old.

With the whole new generation of Lankinen, Saros, Kahkonen and Korpisalo coming up that's definitely not true. They have 4 goalies who have potential from very good to superstar already in the NHL oldest of whom just turned 27. USA and Canada may or may not lack top-end performance but depth is never going to be an issue for them.

There are a couple of candidates:

- Hugo Alnefelt
- Jesper Wallstedt
- Filip Gustavsson
- Adam Werner
- Johan Johansson
- Erik Källgren
- Samuel Ersson
- Arvid Söderblom

Every country has a bucket list of prospects. Sweden NEEDS one (or more) of them to pan out fast, that's the point.

 

[Eye of Ra]

With the whole new generation of Lankinen, Saros, Kahkonen and Korpisalo coming up that's definitely not true. They have 4 goalies who have potential from very good to superstar already in the NHL oldest of whom just turned 27. USA and Canada may or may not lack top-end performance but depth is never going to be an issue for them.

ersson, wallstedt, alnefelt and gustavsson have great potential. im confident they will pan out.

 

[Czechboy]

I think the Swedish goalies are very good... I don't consider Lehner an NHL backup...

Having said that... the Swedes also have a heck of a D and many great 2 way forwards in front of the goalie even if you believe the goalie isn't good (which I don't, I'd take Lehner in a heartbeat).

 

[lawrence]

You see alot of people giving praise to Swedish d. But is not the swedish forwards very good aswell?

Gabriel Landeskog - Nicklas Bäckström - William Nylander
Filip Forsberg - Mika Zibanejad - Elias Lindholm
Elias Pettersson - William Karlsson - Andre Burakovsky
Viktor Arvidsson - Joel Eriksson Ek - Patric Hörnqvist

Maybe its the homer inside me, but i think that forward crop is top 5 in the entire world.

its a very strong group that no one should underestimate. They have a lot of skill and I think in a best of 1 they are a threat.

 

[THE JAM]

ersson, wallstedt, alnefelt and gustavsson have great potential. im confident they will pan out.

On a sidenote:
- wasn't "the Monster / Monstret" Gustavsson supposed to be the best goalie ever and help the Toronto Maple Leafs to finally win smth?

What happened to him, is his career over or still playing somewhere ?

 

[Adele Dazeem]

4th place out of the Big 5.
Canada > Russia > USA > Sweden > Finland.

 

[SoundAndFury]

4th place out of the Big 5.
Canada > Russia > USA > Sweden > Finland.

Russia has 2 NHL centers so yeah nah.

 

[Adele Dazeem]

Russia has 2 NHL centers so yeah nah.

They have the best wingers out of any country.

 

[member 305909]

I guess that in Sweden they are happy about being relatively good at football and a first class country at hockey.

Or does anybody in Sweden complain that hockey makes Swedish football worse? I don't think so.

However, that is the case here in Finland. Many football-fans curse hockey because they think that if hockey didn't exist Finland would be better at football.

 

[SoundAndFury]

They have the best wingers out of any country.

Which, as the previous Olympics have shown, means next to nothing in best on best competitions. Centers are the backbone of any team and Russian situation is putrid.

 

[jonlin]

4th place out of the Big 5.
Canada > Russia > USA > Sweden > Finland.

There is absolutely no way Russia is better than USA. Looking at Russia`s D and C, I actually think they are on par with Finland/Sweden

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

I'm hesitant to say yes. There are no Sundins, Forsbergs, Zetterbergs. I don't know who is their best forward or who to fear.

 

[Eye of Ra]

I'm hesitant to say yes. There are no Sundins, Forsbergs, Zetterbergs. I don't know who is their best forward or who to fear.

well, i dont know about fear and all that, but we have 4 lines with nhlers who do 50-60 points a season, we have 4 even lines but no superstars

btw just looking at best possible 2006 team:

Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Daniel Alfredsson
Markus Näslund - Peter Forsberg - Henrik Zetterberg
Kristian Huselius - Mats Sundin - Fredrik Modin
Alexander Steen - Michael Nylander - Tomas Holmström

Nicklas Lidström - Mattias Norström
Niklas Kronwall - Mattias Öhlund
Nicklas Hävelid - Kenny Jönsson

Henrik Lundqvist

Yeah, things where better before for us.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Last time swedes forward group been good?
Last swedish franchise forward?

----

Its funny, we used to have really good d men in the NHL (and goalies), in plural and the Swedes had really good forwards in the NHL
but now its the other way around. - its been that way for some time now.

You have all kinds of great d-men in the NHL, we have Heiskanen and thats it,
but we sure have lots of great forwards in the NHL.