The Swedish national ice hockey team preparing for the Olympics is starting to feel the pressure from injury news coming from the NHL.

Tre Kronor’s head coach Sam Hallam previously mentioned that top defenseman Jonas Brodin and breakout NHL player Leo Carlsson are very likely to miss the Olympic tournament.

The latest name to drop onto the NHL injury list is Toronto Maple Leafs’ most effective defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who left the game against the Detroit Red Wings last night. The veteran defenseman has played 50 games this season with stats of 8+23=31.

Ekman-Larsson twisted his ankle while battling for the puck with his countryman Lucas Raymond, and the 34-year-old offensive defenseman did not return to the ice.

Currently, Swedish NHL star defensemen Erik Karlsson and Victor Hedman, who have both been named the best defensemen in the NHL earlier in their careers, are also sidelined. There is currently no certainty about their participation in the Olympics.

Among the forwards, besides Carlsson, William Nylander, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Gabriel Landeskog are currently unavailable.

Sweden, playing in the same preliminary group as the Lions, will begin their Olympic journey on February 11.

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