The Calgary Flames’ lone representative at the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament may not be on the ice in Sweden’s opening game.

Team Sweden was able to put together some chemistry with a practice yesterday afternoon, one in which Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson was paired alongside Rasmus Dahlin. We may not see that pairing in game action, however.

After missing yesterday’s practice due illness, Gustav Forsling was back patrolling the blue line during Sweden’s skate today. He now appears to be paired with Dahlin, while Andersson looks like he is the odd man out.

With Forsling practising, Team Sweden defence looks like this:

Forsling-Dahlin

Hedman-Brodin

Ekholm-Karlsson

Andersson

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) February 11, 2025

Victor Hedman and Jonas Brodin appear to make up Sweden’s second pairing, while Mattias Ekholm and Erik Karlsson were together on the bottom unit.

Sweden’s first game of the tournament will come tomorrow night at the Bell Centre in Montreal against Canada, with puck drop set for 6 pm MT. We should have a better indication on lineups tomorrow, but all signs are pointing towards Andersson being a healthy scratch in the opener.

While frustrating for Flames fans, seeing Andersson sit wouldn’t come as a major surprsie. Not only does Sweden have an incredible back end, but the 28-year-old has been struggling following a hot start to the season.

After putting up 10 points through his first eight games of the season, Andersson has managed just 11 over his last 43. It isn’t just his offensive game that is struggling, either.

While plenty of it can be attributed to his team-leading 24:06 minutes of ice time per game, his minus-16 on the season is the worst plus/minus rating of all Flames this season. He went minus-6 in his last five games leading up to the break.

Despite possibly sitting out the opening game, that doesn’t mean that Andersson won’t see any action in this tournament. Sweden is guaranteed three games, and depending on their performance, could wind up playing in the championship game on Thursday, February 20.

Whether it be due to injury or a poor performance from one of Sweden’s defencemen, Andersson is likely to draw in at some point over the span of the nine-day tournament.

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