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Washington Capitals center Marcus Johansson has been tabbed to replace Vancouver Canucks captain Henrik Sedin on Sweden’s men’s hockey team for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Sedin announced Thursday that he was physically unable to compete in Sochi. The Capitals confirmed Johansson’s being added to the team early Friday morning.
Though Johansson is a long way from Sedin in terms of overall talent, he offers Sweden another skilled, playmaking forward and they sure seem to have plenty of those.
Johansson has seven goals and 29 assists in 58 games this season and will join capitals teammate Nicklas Backstrom on Sweden’s highly-skilled roster.
The Swedes looked like one of the favorites to win gold and still will be considered a contender, but losing Sedin and Johan Franzen from the initial roster is certainly going to hurt. They still have loads of skill up front and Johansson certainly fits into that mix.
The 23-year-old Capitals center last represented Sweden at the 2010 World Junior Championship where he had a goal and five assists in five games.
He has 131 points in 241 career NHL games.
