Ducks’ Leo Carlsson, Wild’s Jonas Brodin expected to miss Olympics

A rising star and a seasoned defender might be missing out on a chance to represent their country on sport’s biggest stage.

In an interview with Hockeysverige, Swedish head coach Sam Hallam, Anaheim Ducks forward Leo Carlsson and Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin are expected to miss the 2026 Winter Olympics due to injuries.

“We expect to have to replace both Jonas Brodin and Leo Carlsson,” Hallam said in the translated interview. “We don’t see their start as likely.”

Carlsson underwent a procedure last week to treat a Morel-Lavallée lesion in his left thigh, with his timeline for recovery being reported at 3-5 weeks. He had missed a pair of games over the last few weeks due to lower-body injuries. The young center was leading the Ducks with 44 points in 44 games, totaling 18 goals and 26 assists.

Brodin was placed on injured reserve last week, the second time this season the veteran rearguard has gone on IR. He has been limited to just 42 games, though he has scored three goals and 12 assists for 15 points with the surging team in Minnesota.

While Carlsson, 21, will have more opportunities to play Tre Kronor in the future, many believe this was Brodin’s last and only chance to represent Sweden at the Olympics. At age 32, it might be an uphill climb to make the roster again in 2030.

Hallam noted that there haven’t been any official roster changes yet, but Sweden is preparing to head to Milan without Carlsson and Brodin.

“We’ll give it a couple more days to see if anything extraordinary happens. But right now our working hypothesis is that they won’t come to the Olympics.”

Both players were expected to make significant impacts in Italy next month. Carlsson is part of a young and exciting core of offensive talent, alongside Elias Pettersson and William Nylander, while Brodin was a cog on an experienced blue line, hoping to give the Swedes a chance at making a run at a medal.

Sweden kicks off Group B play on Feb. 11 against host Italy.