Could William Nylander be overlooked by Sweden for the next Olympics?

PUBLICATION

T. Tadi
August 5, 2021 (3:55 PM)

SHARE THIS STORY

While a formal decision has yet to be made on the NHL's participation in the 2022 Winter Olympics, it appears that teams have already begun planning as if players will be given the green light to go.

With about six months until the opening of the Beijing Olympics scheduled for Feb. 4, countries have already begun discussing training options.

According to a Swedish report, Sweden is scheduled to hold a meeting next week in Stockholm to prepare for the upcoming Olympics and up to 27 NHL players have been invited. There was one very notable absence, however, Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander.

So far, the players who have been invited are as follows:

Goaltenders: Jacob Markstrom (CGY) Linus Ullmark (BOS)

Defensemen: Jonas Brodin (MIN), Rasmus Dahlin (BUF), Mattias Ekholm (NSH), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (VAN), Erik Gustafsson (MON), Victor Hedman (TBL), John Klingberg (DAL), Hampus Lindholm (ANA)

Forwards: Mikael Backlund (CGY), Andre Burakovsky (COL), Nicklas Backstrom (WSH), Joel Eriksson Ek (MIN), Jesper Fast (CAR), Filip Forsberg (NSH), Carl Hagelin (WSH), Patric Hornqvist (FLA) , Mattias Janmark-Nylen (VGK), Calle Jarnkrok (SEA), William Karlsson (VGK), Gabriel Landeskog (COL), Elias Lindholm (CGY), Elias Pettersson (VAN), Jakob Silfverberg (ANA), Alexander Wennberg (SEA) and Mika Zibanejad (NYR).

Obviously, it goes without saying that Nylander is a better offensive player than many of the names on this list. The Swede has led Sweden in scoring in his last six international appearances. With that in mind, one has to wonder why Nylander was left off this list of invitees?

Perhaps it's something as simple as a conflicting schedule or some sort of Olympic eligibility rule (Nylander was born in Calgary, Alberta). Is it possible that Sweden just doesn't see Nylander as the type of player the team can win with? This theory seems pretty far-fetched, considering that Nylander is a 30-goal scorer in the best league in the world and has a great record with Sweden in IIHF events.

It will be interesting to hear the rationale for the decision once all the details are known.