Meet the Team: Sweden's roster for the 2022 U18 World Hockey Championship

Sweden is bringing a stacked roster to Landshut and Kaufbeuren for this year's U18s. Though they may lack an elite star in the mould of a Connor Bedard or Logan Cooley, this roster is deep with players who have produced well this season. They also boast responsible two-way defenders and defensively sound centres to keep things honest.

The strength of this team, though, will be its scoring depth. That's going to be what drives the success of this roster. Their weakness, however, is in-goal, where Hugo Hävelid and Lukas Swedin are expected to hold down the crease after solid seasons in the Swedish junior circuit.

Sweden won the bronze medal at the Hlinka-Gretzky tournament this summer, and should definitely be one of the medaled teams here with Russia and Slovakia absent from the tournament.

One of the big questions for this group centres around the health of their two star forwards. Leo Carlsson, eligible for the 2023 NHL Draft, was injured late in the season, though he returned in time for the J20 Nationell's final four and should be ready to go. Jonathan Lekkerimäki, though, is still only training after missing the end of his season with glandular fever; he hasn't played since early March.

Other than that, this is the best team Sweden has to offer. The Djurgården line (Liam Öhgren, Noah Östlund, and Lekkerimäki) will be the leading line with players like Carlsson, Filip Bystedt, and Alexander Suzdalev further down the line up. Defensively, Mattias Hävelid, Calle Odelius, and Elias Pettersson project to go in the first two rounds of the upcoming draft.