On the verge of his first best-on-best international tournament, Adrian Kempe is ready to go for Team Sweden

Adrian Kempe has nothing but respect and love for Drew Doughty as a teammate.

Until now, that’s all they’ve ever been. Teammates.

Throughout their respective careers, more than 600 NHL regular-season games for Kempe and nearly 1,200 for Doughty, they’ve played only for the Los Angeles Kings, one-team players to date. Though both players have represented their nations on the international stage before, they’ve never competed in the same tournament.

When Canada and Sweden square off tomorrow in the first game of the 4 Nations Face-Off, Kempe and Doughty will take the temporary step from teammates to foes. Kempe couldn’t help but smile when asked about seeing his longtime number-one defenseman and alternate captain on the other side of the ice.

“That will be fun, actually would be the first time I’ve ever played against him,” he said. “We talked a little bit about it last week, it will interesting to see him on a different team than you for the first time.”

When they had the conversation, they weren’t even sure if it was going to happen.

Doughty would have been an initial selection for Team Canada had he not suffered a fractured ankle during training camp. Kempe was a no-brainer selection for Team Sweden. It was only Saturday that Doughty got the call he’d be joining Kempe at the tournament. For Doughty, it’ll be his third best-on-best competition, plus one World Cup of Hockey. Kempe is participating in his first.

He’s represented Sweden at the World Championships four times, winning gold in 2018 and bronze this past spring in 2024. The World Championships are one thing though. The JV event, if you will, with a large portion of the world’s best players either participating in the Stanley Cup Playoffs or declining to particpate after an 82(+) game season. The 4 Nations Face-off, despite missing other top countries, will be the first tournament with the best players from Canada, Sweden, Finland and the United States skating in the same event since the 2014 Olympics.

For a player in his late 20’s in Kempe, it’s extremely exciting to be on the cusp of playing in a tournament like that for the first time.

“I’ve never been part of a tournament like this before, you play best-on-best, so it’s going to be fun to see which teams can figure it out the quickest,” Kempe said. “A lot of good players, a lot of stacked teams, so it’s going to be very fun and interesting to see line combinations on all of the teams and everything like that. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun and a lot of fun for people to watch.”

Swede pics. 📸

📺: #4Nations Face-Off Canada vs. Sweden TOMORROW at 8p ET on @NHL_On_TNT, @SportsonMax, @Sportsnet and @TVASports! pic.twitter.com/d3an2yUjUg

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As Kempe has navigated his way through the 2024-25 season, in which he leads the Kings in goals (25) and points (46), he’s done so communicating with Team Sweden brass along the way.

The Swedish contingent is different than that of Canada and the United States, because management and coaching staffs from those clubs are made up of NHL general managers and coaches. For Sweden, Head Coach Sam Hallam is the men’s national team’s head coach at major international events, as opposed to say Jon Cooper, who is moonlighting for Team Canada from his day job in Tampa Bay.

It’s simple for say Doughty, who could meet with Cooper around Kings/Lightning games. For Kempe, he said he might speak with one person when the Kings were on the East Coast and another when the Kings were at home and sometimes who that person is changes. He said there wasn’t anything in depth over the past few months, but he was certainly kept in contact with.

“A little bit of back and forth,” he said of his communication with management along the way. “Just getting prepared for everything, we got into small details, some stuff about our structure.”

Kempe said there wasn’t much communication about where he might play in the lineup coming in. He got that answer yesterday, though, when he skated on the wing with Vancouver center Elias Pettersson and Nashville winger Filip Forsberg. Not a bad lineup. Sweden has a lot of established talent on the wings specifically, with Kempe one of many high-producing players in that position. Kempe’s 25 goals at the break are second in the NHL among Swedish forwards, trailing only his childhood friend William Nylander.

For Team Sweden, Nylander isn’t exactly the only player Kempe knows. Same goes for others in the room.

Perhaps it’s an advantage for that nation versus say Canada or the United States, with players coming from a country that is simply larger, producing players from sea to shining sea. Swedish players have also been, traditionally, more willing to play in the World Championships, which means this isn’t the first time as teammates for the majority of these players.

In a small tournament, when three games without much practice time will determine if you play for the championship or not, that could be a determining factor.

“Sweden is a small country, we pretty much all know each other from before,” Kempe said. “We grew up together, played against pretty much everybody, it’s such a small place, so somehow you cross paths with all the guys, whether it’s World Championships or when you’re growing up. I feel like everybody knows each other pretty well, which is just a good thing and I feel like the locker room chemistry is always good. Everybody takes their role, whatever role they’re going to play and I think everybody’s on board, on the same page in that area, which is just good.”

As Kempe approaches the event, this could potentially be a breakout tournament for him on the international stage.

In Los Angeles, there is no breakout needed. Kempe’s game is widely respected and discussed by those who watch him play on a regular basis. He was voted as the team MVP last season by the local media, a sign of the understanding of what Kempe brings to the organization. On the national stage, though, despite being second in goals this season among Swedish forwards, I wouldn’t say Kempe is anywhere near the first name discussed on his international club. In terms of who you’d call higher profile, I’m not even sure that Kempe’s name would be brought up in the first half of the team, if you were to rank them from top to bottom.

Having just cracked the 600-game mark in the NHL, though, with 129 goals over the last three and a half seasons, Kempe deserves to be in that discussion. I’m not sure how much he cares about being in it, but he deserves to be. He’s developed from an exciting prospect to a goalscorer to a night-in, night-out impact player in the NHL. He’s worked his way into that upper echelon of talent around the league. In a four-team tournament, best-on-best, perhaps now is the time the world sees what those in Southern California have seen for some time now.

“I think just over the past four or five years, the consistency of my play, I think has been really good, something I’ve been really happy with,” Kempe said. “That’s the type of player I wanted to be, the type of player Kings wanted me to be. I’ve learned from some really good players, so I think that’s something that I’ve been the most happy with, just keeping it as consistent as possible. It’s been some ups and downs throughout my career for sure. The first 600 went by really fast but I still feel pretty young, so hopefully we can keep it going at the same pace. It’s been a good 600 so far.”

Kempe and Team Sweden get underway tomorrow against Doughty and Team Canada at 5 PM Pacific. Game will be broadcast live on TNT and MAX Full tournament overview to follow tomorrow, with some check-ins to come along the way!

Photo by Andrea Cardin/4NFO/World Cup of Hockey via Getty Images