Daniel Alfredsson was under no obligation to accept this invitation.
After all, nobody would have blamed him if he followed in the footsteps of his fellow coaches with the Ottawa Senators and took a well-deserved vacation over the next week. Instead, Alfredsson will be spending the next few days coaching at the Bell Centre and TD Garden, supporting Team Sweden at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.
The decision to stay behind the bench – instead of hitting the beach – was an easy one for Alfredsson.
“I always loved representing the National team. That was my dream growing up,” says Alfredsson. “It’s always very special. I never thought I would do it as a coach. But I find myself in that situation now. When I spoke with the Swedish Federation, I wanted to see if there was a spot for me on the staff. I was really intrigued. Now, I’m looking forward to that tournament as all the players are as well.”
Alfredsson’s decision to stick with coaching over this break probably sheds a little perspective on how much he has enjoyed the transition to his new role. Only 14 months ago – in December of 2023 – Alfredsson chose to step behind the Ottawa bench as an assistant to his longtime mentor Jacques Martin. Now working under Travis Green – who offered him the opportunity to keep an assistant coaching role – Alfredsson has no regrets about his decision to try his hand at coaching after a Hall of Fame career as a player.
“I’ve learned a lot and I have really enjoyed it,” he says, acknowledging a period of adjustment.
A decade had passed since the end of his playing career. Alfredsson was no longer used to planes, hotels and locker rooms. But a return to the demanding rigors of an NHL schedule have been worth it for Alfredsson, who has helped contribute to the Senators success in the 2024-25 season.
“The rewarding part is seeing players grow, being part of the journey, being involved with game, again, at the highest level, is extremely satisfying”, says the man who made his NHL debut at the age of 22, after being a sixth-round draft pick in 1994.
When a young player asks him for advice, Alfredsson replies that curiosity is the best quality an athlete can possess. He relishes the opportunity to work with younger players, often staying out late to work on skills and mental development.
“When you have been there and done it yourself, you know that when you say something… Stuff doesn’t just happen just with a conversation. It needs to be implemented. The player needs to work at it in practice. Player needs to feel comfortable doing it,” says Alfredsson. “But at other times there are small tips that you can give that work too. That’s great to see. I should say that the players have been super fun to work with. They are very coachable. They listen. That makes it rewarding as well.”
Each coach has found his niche in Green’s staff and Alfredsson views himself primarily as a skills development specialist.
“I like to think about solving situations offensively and defensively. I always saw myself as a defensive first player,” explains Alfredsson.
That description might seem odd, considering Alfredsson was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame at the end of a career in which he recorded 1,157 points. He still ranks 58th on the NHL all-time scoring list and only one of his Swedish compatriots – Mats Sundin – is ahead of him on this list.
“I always hated to get scored on. I scored some goals, obviously, but I hated getting scored on. Always paid attention to the defensive part of the game so that I could play against the other teams’ best players. I think that now, as a coach, I can really help on both the offensive and defensive sides,” says Alfredsson.
Alfredsson knows that the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off could be of great benefit to him. In just under a year's time, the best hockey players on the planet will once again gather, in Italy for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. Twenty years after the 2006 Turin Games, where he captured a gold medal and experienced some of the most exhilarating moments of his career, Alfredsson could be back at the most important sporting gathering on the planet.
In the meantime, Alfredsson promises to make the most of this 4 Nations tournament, which begins in Montreal on February 12 and ends in Boston eight days later.
“I don’t know where the coaching is going to take me. For now, it’s a lot of fun, but I don’t know about the long term,” says Alfredsson. “This tournament will bring some of the best players in the world together and they are going to fight it off for a week and a half. I think it will be tremendous. It will be a great opportunity for me to work with the best players that Sweden have and also some really good coaches that probably have a different philosophy, coaching in Sweden their whole careers. I will bring my experience from North America and they will bring their Swedish expertise. It should be a good mix.”
