Come to think of it, maybe they have. Jesper Wallstedt is a 23-year-old NHL rookie having a fantastic debut, like The King back then.

Without the fanfare that came with Lundqvist’s glittering Broadway debut with the Rangers, “The Wall” had four shutouts in his first 10 games. Will that get him a long look, if not first crack for the preliminaries?

Sweden’s most difficult choice aside, it should have more than enough skater skill to make a return to the medal stand after earning silver in Sochi in 2014.

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A projected lineup:

Forwards

Jesper Bratt–Leo Carlsson–Lucas Raymond

Adrian Kempe– Elias Pettersson–William Nylander

Gabriel Landeskog–Joel Eriksson Ek–Filip Forsberg

Marcus Johansson–Elias Lindholm–Mika Zibanejad

X — Emil Heineman, Viktor Arvidsson

Carlsson’s breakout — he started December on a 113-point pace — and Nylander’s continued excellence make this the tournament’s third-best forward group. It includes gracefully aging players such as Johansson (35), who wasn’t on the 4 Nations Face-Off roster but opened December on a 60-point pace.

Zibanejad makes the team after a solid performance at the World Championship. Overall, his decline is a concern. Arvidsson has come on strong lately for the Bruins. If the injured William Karlsson and Rickard Rakell remain out, Simon Holmstrom or William Eklund could be next up.

Defensemen

Rasmus Dahlin–Jonas Brodin

Gustav Forsling–Erik Karlsson

Victor Hedman–Rasmus Andersson

X — Hampus Lindholm, Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Four perfectly matched pairs with skill, size, and smarts. How very Swedish.

No Mattias Ekholm, who struggled at the 4 Nations and hasn’t started strong in Edmonton. Lindholm or Ekman-Larsson are better options.

Goaltenders

Jesper Wallstedt

Filip Gustavsson

Linus Ullmark

Wallstedt has allowed 11 goals at five on five in 10 games, saving 13.91 goals above expected (tops in the NHL by a wide margin). If he keeps it up, Ullmark or Jacob Markstrom could lose their spot.

Team Finland

If you should meet a Finn and want to make a friend, offer a toast to the defending men’s hockey Olympic champions.

Beijing 2022 was the first gold for a country that medaled four times (silver in 2006, bronze in 1998, 2010, and 2014) in the five Olympic tournaments involving NHL players.

The return of best-on-best means a wholly different Leijonat group from 2022, and it is one that won’t include captain Aleksander Barkov (ACL and MCL tears in late September). He is the most glaring absence on any roster.

Finland also is in danger of missing Patrik Laine, who might not return in time from a core injury. Regardless, the forward group isn’t too shabby, but the Finns’ lack of defensive depth and uncharacteristic struggles in net could leave them outside of medal contention.

A projected lineup:

Forwards

Mikael Granlund–Roope Hintz–Mikko Rantanen

Artturi Lehkonen–Sebastian Aho–Teuvo Teravainen

Eetu Luostarinen–Anton Lundell–Kaapo Kaako

Oliver Kapanen–Erik Haula–Eeli Tolvanen

X — Jani Nyman, Joel Armia

What they have: Chemistry up front. Hintz moves to No. 1 center and reunites a line that went supernova in last spring’s NHL playoffs. Aho and Teravainen are reliving their Carolina days (PK monsters, they). Luostarinen and Lundell win third-line matchups in the playoffs and probably will here. Kapanen has been playing well in Montreal and could move up if Granlund (injured) can’t find his form.

What they don’t have: Barkov’s 200-foot excellence, Laine’s cannon on the power play, boring days by the pool (Luostarinen has missed three weeks and counting since what Panthers coach Paul Maurice termed a “barbecuing mishap”), any shortage of chippiness (Rantanen has caught the Tom Wilson bug, apparently).

Defensemen

Esa Lindell—Miro Heiskanen

Niko Mikkola–Rasmus Ristolainen

Urho Vaakanainen–Henri Jokiharju

X — Olli Maatta, Mikko Lehtonen

No worries with Lindell, Heiskanen, and Mikkola. If Ristolainen, nearing a return from March triceps surgery, is healthy, he’s in. A bit of a rough ride outside the top four. Maatta (upper body) is on injured reserve. Lehtonen, the captain at the Worlds last spring, is having a strong season in Switzerland and could get the call over Ottawa’s Nikolas Matinpalo.

Goaltenders

Juuse Saros

Joonas Korpisalo

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Despite a tough season in Nashville, it’s Saros’s net. Korpisalo has played himself into the backup role. Luukkonen over Kevin Lankinen for the third spot.

Matt Porter can be reached at matthew.porter@globe.com. Follow him @mattyports.