The Swedish team at the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Men’s World Championship includes some of the highest-rated European-based prospects for the next two NHL Entry Drafts, but in its first three games, the team struggled to produce.
In the team’s final group-stage game, Swedish coach Johan Rosen decided to shake things up to increase offence. He put his top three offensive forwards – wingers Marcus Nordmark and Elton Hermansson with centre Alexander Command – onto one regular 5-on-5 line. The results speak for themselves.
Hermansson had six points in the game – two goals and four assists – while Nordmark and Command each had two goals and one assist. Sweden won the game 9-1.
“This was our first game together,” said Hermansson, who had 21 points in 31 for MoDo this season in Sweden’s second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan. “It’s fun playing with them and in the second and third periods, we had really good chemistry out there, so we’ve gotta keep going.”
“It’s really nice,” agreed Nordmark, the son of former NHL defenceman Robert Nordmark who played eight SHL games this season for Djurgarden. “It was the first time we’ve ever played with each other. It was nice chemistry and we played well, so we’ll see if we play together in the playoffs. It’s a great line, definitely.”
Hermansson and Nordmark and the two big offensive stars who are both projected to be taken somewhere between the middle of the first round and the start of the second round at this summer’s NHL Entry Draft. At last summer’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup, they led the tournament with nine and seven points, respectively, in five games.
“I mean, they’re obviously really good players,” said Command, who downplays his role but is also a highly-rated draft prospect who played six SHL games this season for Orebro. “I just try to make life easier for them, because of how skilled they are. Even though I can also do stuff myself, I feel I can take on that role and be the more defensive guy, outwork the other team, open up lanes and spaces for them, work back the puck and obviously, do my thing as well.”
Without Nordmark in the lineup, Sweden opened with a 7-2 win over Germany. Hermansson and Command each had an assist. That was followed by a 2-1 loss to Czechia, in which Hermansson set up Nordmark for a power-play goal in the third period, but otherwise the Swedes struggled to generate offence and were outshot 28-19. Then came the big embarrassment – a 9-1 loss to the USA before a full house at Bratislava’s Vladimir Dzurilla Ice Arena.
“I think against Czechia and the USA, we were a little bit on the outside, we didn’t take as many shots,” said Hermansson. “Of course, they were great opponents, but today I think we got a little bit more on the inside and attacked more. We’ve gotta keep doing that.”
Against Denmark, Command set up Hermansson for the game’s opening goal just 32 seconds in and they connected again later in the first as well. But it was the third period when the trio really seemed to hit their stride. Nordmark scored twice and Hermansson and Command each added their second of the game while all three buzzed around the attacking zone like the Harlem Globetrotters, passing between each other with apparent ease.
Although the Swedes had the game well in hand by that point, it seemed important to get the players who are supposed to be their top scorers scoring, and they all seemed to be in a good mood after the game.
“It’s really nice to get that feeling ahead of the playoffs, to score some goals and some chances to make plays, yeah,” said Nordmark. “It was a nice game and a nice win. We’re a strong group so this was a nice way to finish off with the quarter-finals coming up.”
Looking ahead
Of course, it’s one thing to fill the net against Denmark. Facing Canada, which has shut out each of its last three opponents in Group A, will be a challenge on an entirely different level. After the Denmark game, it wasn’t 100 percent confirmed that Canada would be the Swedes’ next opponent. However, the trio were confident and hope they’re given the chance to continue playing together in the quarter-finals and beyond.
“I hope so,” said Command. “We had a good game today and hopefully we get the chance again against Canada, or whatever opponent we have.”
“If we face Canada, we’re probably the underdog because Canada has two straight gold medals here, but we’ll see what happens,” said Nordmark.
There doesn’t seem to be a worry that loading these three players onto one line will compromise offence elsewhere, either. With his six-point output against Denmark, Hermansson is now Sweden’s points leader with eight, followed by Nordmark with five and Command with four. Also with four is 2027 draft prospect Bosse Meijer has four, Wiggo Sorensson has three, and defenceman Malte Gustafsson, Axel Elofsson, Mads Gudmundsson and Ole Palma can all produce.
“We’ve got lots of good players who can score and we can also play good defence,” said Hermansson, who added, “Mikael Kim is doing a great job, Olle Karlsson … and also, of course, we’ve got Kevin (Tornblom) in goal.
Command concluded, “We have a good team and even though we had a couple of bad games, we have a high ceiling and I think we can beat anybody in this tournament and go all the way.”