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Adrian Kempe is “honored & excited” to represent Team Sweden at upcoming 4 Nations Faceoff

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Ten years ago, Kings forward Adrian Kempe and Toronto winger William Nylander were teammates. Two months from now, they’ll be teammates once again.

At the ages of 17 and 18, Kempe and Nylander were two of the youngest players in the Swedish Hockey League, the top men’s professional division in Sweden. The leading scorer on that team was more than double Kempe’s age, as both he and Nylander began their professional careers at MODO Hockey Ornskoldsvik, the same Swedish team that produced Peter Forsberg, Markus Naslund, the Sedin brothers and most recently, Tampa Bay’s Viktor Hedman.

Pretty solid development factory if you ask me.

Now, Kempe and Nylander are elite NHL players. Kempe leads the Kings in goals while Nylander is doing the same with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Since Kempe’s offensive breakout back in the 2021-22 season, he and Nylander rank third and first respectively in goals scored by a Swede, with Filip Forsberg in the middle. Pretty good company, and a great example of what can happen when you trust the developmental process.

In a couple of months, Kempe and Nylander won’t be popping goals for opposing teams, but rather joining forces on the same side. Both Kempe and Nylander were selected yesterday as members of Team Sweden at the upcoming 4 Nations Faceoff, a four-team, best-on-best international tournament taking place in February, during what will amount to a two-week break in the NHL schedule.

“It’s pretty awesome, we played with each other a couple years before we got drafted, the national team going up all the way from under-16 to the World Championships, so yeah, it’s pretty cool to see what he’s been doing, how much better he gets every year,” Kempe said today. “He’s a pretty incredible player, so it’s going to be fun to be reunited with him, maybe not on the same line, but at least on the same team.”

Kempe said that Nylander is probably the player he’s most looking forward to being teammates with, because it’s teammates with again, as opposed to for the first time. Beyond that?

Certainly a lot of options on a star-studded Sweden squad, but Kempe spoke about Jesper Bratt in Sweden as being someone he’s looking forward to being teammates or even linemates with.

“Bratt has been one of the best players in the league so far in Jersey, so I’m grateful to see what he could do on a line with you, for sure,” Kempe added. “A lot of guys that are such good players that you want to play with.”

For Kempe, he has represented Team Sweden on the international stage before but never in a best-on-best setting. Perhaps the 2022 Winter Olympics could have been his debut, before the NHL pulled its players out, but Kempe will arrive on that stage in a couple of months. And it’s truly been deserved.

Over the last three seasons, there haven’t been a ton of players of any nationality that have put the puck in the net more regularly than Kempe, who ranks tied for 20th in the NHL.

“The thing about Adrian is, I’m not surprised, I don’t think it caught any of us off guard,” Kings Head Coach Jim Hiller said of Kempe’s selection. “We’re excited for him, we’re happy for him, and I think we all felt like he’s a player that’s going to go help Sweden compete in that tournament.”

There’s certainly an honor that comes with this tournament specifically.

It’ll be the same next season as the NHL returns to the Winter Olympics, with Kempe certainly to be a favorite to make that roster as well.

“It means a lot, I’m very excited,” Kempe said. “Hopefully it’s going to be a fun tournament, a lot of stacked teams, a lot of good players. You get the chance to play with the best Swedish players who are out there, so I’m very honored and excited to be part of it.”

While this event is different, it’s not to say Kempe has never featured for Tre Kronor. Quite the contrary.

Kempe has represented Sweden four times at the senior international level, most recently at the 2024 event this past spring. Kempe has 25 points (6-19-25) over those four tournaments, the fourth-most among active NHL players, with Nylander one of the three in front of him. Still though, this is a different format than the World Championships. Arguably the four top hockey nations, with everyone’s best players participating. I’d argue we haven’t seen it since 2014. Should make for a cool event.

“That’s going be cool,’ Kempe said of playing in a best-on-best international event. “There’s so many other players here from different countries that are not in it but yeah, Canada, US, Finland, Sweden, four of the top nations that are out there and all the best players, so it’s going to be fun to see, in a short time together, see what teams can do together and what all the best players can do, who doesn’t play with each other usually, see what they can do together in the tournament. It’s going to be good.”

Still a bit early to think about what kind of a role Kempe might play in the tournament, but expect him to make an impact.

The beauty about the way Kempe plays the game is that he could contribute in a first line role, as he does with the Kings, but he would also be effective in a fourth-line role. He plays power play. He kills penalties. He values both ends of the ice. He plays with speed and skill but is also engaged in games physically. It would be, well, stupid to leave a 40-goal scorer off of your roster but even if you said you’re looking for guys who could contribute in other ways, Kempe can do that.

While he said he hasn’t yet been talked to about who he might play with, or where he might slot in, Kempe believes in his own versatility. In a short tournament, where gellng fast could make all the difference, players like Kempe certainly help.

“I know I can be a player that can play on a lot of different lines,” Kempe added. “I’m not expecting myself to be on the top line, but if I end up there with other guys, I’ll take it, but if not, I’ll try to find my role as quick as I can and do my part of the team.”

Kempe begins his quest for an international championship on Wednesday, February 12, as Sweden takes on Canada at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Sweden will take on Finland on Saturday, February 15, also in Montreal, before the tournament shifts to Boston, where Sweden will compete group play on Monday, February 17 against the United States at the TD Garden in Boston. The top two teams will advance to the championship game on February 20, also in Boston, with a one-game final determining the champion.

Photo by Jari Pestelacci/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images

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