With the captaincies announced for the Four Nations Faceoff in February, Erik Karlsson is the second Penguins to be represented in the headliners for the tournament.
Karlsson will join fellow Swedes Mattias Ekholm and William Nylander as assistant captains behind Victor Hedman. It's the second time Karlsson will wear the "A" in international play, the first time being the 2016 Hockey World Cup.
Your #4Nations Face-Off captains for Team Sweden are here!
— NHL Sverige (@NHLsv) January 30, 2025
Era kaptener för Tre Kronor i #4Nations Face-Off är här! pic.twitter.com/NzM4cqktWB
The Penguins' defenseman has plenty of experience playing in international tournaments. As a youth he represented Sweden in the World Juniors, and then he played in the World Hockey Championship in 2009-10 before he even made his NHL debut, helping Sweden to a 3rd place finish.
Overall, Karlsson has appeared in three World Hockey Championships, logging 10 goals and 12 assists (22 points) in 27 games, a really impressive mark for a defenseman.
His one Olympic Games appearance came at Sochi in 2014 where he had eight points (four goals, four assists) in six games en route to Sweden's silver medal finish. It was Sidney Crosby's team Canada who took home the gold, defeating the Swedes 3-0 in the final.
I'm so proud to be representing team Sweden in the 2014 Winter Olympics. What a great feeling. #Sochi2014
— Erik Karlsson (@ErikKarlsson65) January 7, 2014
It was Karlsson who netted the game-winning goal on an absolute bomb from the blue line in the semifinal against Finland back in those 2014 Olympics, and the Swedes/Finns rivalry will ramp up once again this February.
Erik Karlsson's insane stick flex on his goal#sweden #finland #sochi2014 pic.twitter.com/1KMtSSBWtc
— BetAlytics (@BetalyticsInc) February 21, 2014
Karlsson's passion for international tournaments is very evident, and his competitive spirit will do him well as the Four Nations Faceoff is set to begin February 12th. It'll be an incredible tournament to watch.