Leo Carlsson was named today to Sweden’s roster for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. Carlsson currently leads all Swedish NHL players in goals this season with 17.
Carlsson joins forward Mikael Granlund (Finland), goaltender Lukas Dostal and defenseman Radko Gudas (both Czechia), and goaltender prospect Damian Clara (host Italy) as Anaheim’s players selected to participate in the February Olympic Winter Games.
Carlsson, 21 (12/26/04), will appear in his first Olympic Winter Games with Sweden and his seventh international appearance for his country. The Karlstad, Sweden native represented his country at the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, two World Championships (2023 and 2025), 2023 World Junior Championship, 2022 U-18 World Championship and 2021 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
Carlsson was the youngest player to appear at the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, making his tournament debut and appearing in his lone game Feb. 17, 2025 vs. Team USA at 20 years, 53 days. He was two years and 126 days younger than Brock Faber (Team USA), the next youngest player to appear at the tournament.
He helped Sweden to a bronze medal at the 2025 World Championship, scoring 4-6=10 points in 10 tournament games. He scored 2-3=5 points at the 2023 World Championship where he was the youngest-ever player to score a goal for Sweden on May 14, 2023 vs. Austria (18 years, 138 days). He was also the youngest Swede to appear at the tournament, May 12, 2023 vs. Germany (18 years, 136 days). Carlsson led Sweden to a gold medal at the 2022 U-18 World Championship and also earned bronze for his country at the 2021 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
Selected by Anaheim in the first round (second overall) of the 2023 NHL Draft, Carlsson has scored 17-25=42 points with a +5 rating in 39 games with Anaheim this season. He leads Anaheim in points (17-25=42), goals, game-winning goals (3), power-play points (3-9=12), and is second in assists. In 170 career games with the Ducks, Carlsson has collected 49-67=116 points with a +1 rating.
The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 will take place from Feb. 11-22. The 12 teams will each play three preliminary games in their respective groups. The three group winners and the best second-place team will get a bye into the quarterfinals; the other eight teams will play single-elimination games to determine the other four quarterfinalists. The gold medal game will be held on Sunday, Feb. 22.
