The New Jersey Devils sent seven players to Italy this month in preparation for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Jack Hughes is looking to make a name for himself with Team USA, even if he’s starting on the fourth line. Nico Hischier is trying to lead Switzerland, although he wasn’t named captain for this event. 

Jesper Bratt has an interesting path ahead of him at the Olympics. The Swedish National Team is dealing with numerous injuries that are expected to affect their standing in group play. Bratt actually hasn’t been injured this season, playing all 57 games for the Devils this season. 

Last year at the 4 Nations, Bratt was great for Sweden. His one goal ended up being the only game-winning goal for the Swedish team. He was really good for them all tournament, even if they looked overmatched for most of it. Bratt was as skilled as anyone on the ice.

One would expect Swedish head coach Sam Hallam to prioritize Bratt in the lineup. To start, Bratt was placed on the second line.

He’s also playing on the right side, which is not his natural position. That makes sense, however. Sweden is stacked on the left side with Elias Pettersson, Lucas Raymond, and Filip Forsberg. Bratt is in that conversation, as well, but he has experience playing on the right side. 

Where does Jesper Bratt fall into the Sweden lineup at the Winter Olympics?

Pairing him with Lucas Raymond is a good move. However, everything can change when William Nylander returns to the lineup. 

Sweden has Raymond, Pettersson, Forsberg, Nylander, Adrian Kempe, Rickard Rakell, and Gabriel Landeskog all playing on the wing. That’s a lot of competition for Bratt, and it’s a lot of options for the Devils star to partner on a high-performing line. So, we have options for his “ideal” line. 

We can go in one of two directions here for the wing partner. We can continue with Lucas Raymond as Bratt’s partner, or we can move Bratt back to the left side and partner him with Nylander. 

Let’s go with Nylander because that allows Bratt to play on his natural side. So, who should be their center? It’s a good question, as the Swedish centers are not on the level of the wingers. 

It’s actually somewhat surprising they moved Pettersson to the wing. We’d consider him an ideal candidate for top-line center, but we understand how much his stock has fallen with the Vancouver Canucks. Right now, Joel Eriksson Ek is being treated like the top-line center. Other options include Elias Lindholm and Mika Zibanejad. 

From an ideal standpoint, we’ll go with Bratt-Eriksson Ek-Nylander as the ideal line. It showcases Bratt as a top-line forward with serious competition. It puts him in a position to score against the top teams in the world. This could help him escape the scoring woes he’s had in New Jersey this season.