Jacob Markstrom will miss the next 4-to-6 weeks with an MCL sprain. While Markstrom is surely disappointed that this injury will take him out of contention to be a Vezina Trophy winner (or finalist) this season, he’s probably even more disappointed that the injury has forced Team Sweden to replace him on the roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament which kicks off early next month.
Markstrom, who was named to Team Sweden in December, last represented the team in the World Championship in 2019, and he was also on Team Sweden when they won world championship gold in 2013 (though he backed up Jhonas Enroth for the medal round games). Linus Ullmark was the presumed starter for Team Sweden coming into the season. But his inconsistent play for the Senators and Markstrom’s hot streak over the past two months, including several save of the year candidates, means Markstrom would’ve started at least one of the games for Team Sweden, and perhaps more.
The last time Markstrom represented his country in a best-on-best tournament featuring all NHL rosters was the World Cup in 2016, where Sweden finished a disappointing 6th out of 8 teams. Markstrom was clearly excited for the chance at redemption in this tournament, telling NHL.com:
"I'm 34 now, and it was almost 10 years ago since the last best on best tournament was played. When you're there, you're thinking it's the Olympics in two years, and Olympics four years after that. It's really a privilege and now we got Olympics in Italy coming up in a in a few years (2026). These tournaments, you never know how many, or if you're going to be able to play one even. ... Every player wants to represent their country and play against and measure against all the other countries. It's a privilege. Not many people to get to play these tournaments so I'm going to enjoy every second of it."Jacob Markstrom to NHL.com
He will now have to wait another year to get a chance at the Olympic roster in 2026. Cam Robinson reported on Friday that the Flyers’ Samuel Ersson will replace Markstrom on Team Sweden’s roster for the tournament.
The Devils certainly never want Jacob Markstrom to be injured, as he has been crucial to their rebound from the team’s disastrous campaign last year. But while Markstrom suffered a relatively minor knee sprain, which will keep him out through the Four Nations Face-Off, he avoided a risk that playing his heart out in these international tournament games would lead to a season-ending injury that would doom the Devils playoff hopes.
Every time a major international tournament has featured NHL players, there comes with it a chance that those players will be injured playing in a tournament that doesn’t count towards their professional team’s standings. The New York Islanders likely remember well that Jonathan Tavares missed the rest of the season with a knee injury he suffered in the 2014 Olympics for team Canada.
Carey Price, though he backstopped Team Canada to Olympic gold in 2014, played through a hip injury that he would later aggravate and miss time down the stretch for the Canadiens that season. It’s unclear if that is the same hip that would eventually force Carey Price to retire from the NHL, but it is clear that playing in these tournaments presents a risk to the players.
But the Devils, whose Stanley Cup hopes rely on Jacob Markstrom, could not afford to take that risk. Instead, the 4 Nations Face-Off break will allow Markstrom to heal his knee sprain without missing Devils games. The Devils will hold their breath that their other Four Nations Face-Off participants (Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Erik Haula, assuming he plays for Finland despite his recent injury) come out of the tournament relatively unscathed and their team can make a run at a long-awaited first Stanley Cup in more than 20 years.