Erik Karlsson??

Andersson>Karlsson

Really??

Karlsson needs to prove a lot this season if he is to crack top 6 in Sweden. If he’s back to old form, he’s certainly a given.

Olofsson likely makes the roster but not sure he'd start any games. Dependent on how his 5v5 game develops this year

I must say though the lines are pretty poorly set up

How is Lucas Raymond on the first line?

You’ll find out during the season.

yeah he might be good but first line? thats just ridiculous. if hes good id probably have him on the team, maybe 3rd line, but top 6? thats just ridiculous.

also where tf is karlsson? even if he isnt in his 2017 form he's still pretty good and has a ton of experience, and thats gonna be key against teams like russia and canada.

you also for some reason put raymond on the team but not hoglander, and you should have zibanejad as the 1c, pettersson as the 2c, and obviously put filip forsberg in the top 6.

here's what you do for the top 6:
landeskog - zibanejad - nylander
forsberg - pettersson - burakosvky
hoglander - bäckström - lindholm
rakell - eriksson ek - arvidsson

you'll also want raymond, nyqvist, and karlsson there

for the defense youre gonna want:
hedman - klingberg
ekholm - karlsson
dahlin - larsson

you'll also want brodin, oel, and andersson in the running, depending on how people like dahlin do next year.

the key to this team is having four runnable lines, and a strong defense with a good mix of experience and youth. what youve done is scrapped that idea and put an unproven 19 year old on the first line.

btw forgive me if i forgot someone this is just off the top of my head

Check out Expected Buffalo thread about Swedish Olympics roster. It has some interesting advanced stats. I agree Raymond has to be a strong Calder candidate to find himself there. I disagree with spreading out Sweden’s top centers to 3 lines. Against Canada it’s better to focus on two top lines. Granted, this would elevate Nylander to a top line, but I am banking on a phenomenal season for Raymond and then he can ally with Ek, a budding star of his own, who deserves to play with better players.

when raymond has a phenomenal season then we can talk about him making the roster, but you certainly shouldnt be banking on him being one of the best swedish players in the nhl right out of the gates.

i understand bolstering the top 6, but its not gonna work with the players we have, and i certainly dont think karlsson should be in the top 6 ahead of players like burakovsky, lindholm, forsberg, and nylander.
he had one very good season and ever since he's dropped off.
nylander, on the other hand, is excellent, especially in the playoffs. while most of the stars on toronto struggled, nylander put up 5 goals, and 8 points in 7 games and you can't chalk that up to playing with superstars because tavares was out for most of it, and marner/matthews weren't doing much at all. unlike raymond he's a proven talent in this league, and he's definitely earned a spot in the top 6.
forsberg is another player who deserves a spot in the top 6. he has a track record of being a solid points producer in international tournaments and has been great for the preds in their playoff runs. in the 2018 playoffs for example he had 7 goals 9 assists for 16 points in 13 playoff games, and he's consistently scored at a 30 point pace for the last few years.

having backstrom and zibs together would be a bit like toronto having matthews and tavares together. maybe they'd be a great line, but it's much better to have 2 lines with top centers than one line with two top centers and one line with a decent center, especially when we're facing teams like canada. trying to bolster the top 6 against a team like that is like david trying to outmuscle goliath.

Nah, pairing centers is fine and Canada does it with great success. Also W Karlsson is a Corsi monster, especially in bringing in opponent zone entry, and was clearly the best forward in Golden Knights this last Stanley Cup playoff, perhaps the only forward of the top 6 that truly performed.
I disagree with the relevancy your David and Goliath metaphor as a tool for that discussion.
Also I never said Raymond would be one of the best players in the nhl. If he is Calder worthy, he could pair very well with Pettersson. I am not banking on anything really - I clearly set up the explanation of the team posting the thread. I find it kind of funny how people seem to act like it’s not speculative.

I mean the Golden Knights did have offensive issues that playoff run, especially when it came to center depth. Karlsson is a decent player, but he absolutely doesn't deserve a spot in the top 6 when you look at some of the other options.

You're also completely missing the point, even if Raymond wins the calder next year I would hesitate to put him in the top 6 because there are so many better alternatives. I love Raymond, but unless he's some kind of generational talent who scores 30 goals in his rookie season, having him on the 1st line ahead of some of the other players is insane.

Btw yes I know pairing centers works sometimes, but it's not smart in this circumstance, because you'd be putting a top center like Mika Zibanejad in a wing position that could go to, well a top winger. Especially since Zibanejad famously doesn't really play on the wing. It's not like Backstrom and Zibs together are gonna be much better than Zibs with someone like Nylander.

Lucas. Raymond. Pass. Goal. One of the three stars again. Looks like he’ll become a superstar.

https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/chi-vs-det/2021/10/04/2021010063#game=2021010063,game_state=final