Sharks’ Wennberg named to Sweden’s Olympic team, but Eklund left off
SAN JOSE – Macklin Celebrini will not be the only San Jose Sharks centerman playing in the Olympics in Italy in February. Alexander Wennberg is going, too.
Wennberg is among the 14 forwards who will represent Sweden at the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, it was announced Friday.
Wennberg, now in his 12th NHL season and his second with the Sharks, is tied for third on the team with 26 points in 40 games. He played his best hockey in December with 13 points in 14 games, helping the Sharks go 8-6-0 during the month and enter January in a wild card spot in the Western Conference.
Entrenched as the Sharks’ second-line center since the start of the season, Wennberg is on pace to have his best year statistically since 2016-17 when he had 59 points in 80 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Wennberg had 35 points in 77 games with the Sharks last season.
Wennberg entered Friday tied for 10th among all Swedish-born forwards in points and tied for sixth in assists. He also represented Sweden at the 2016, 2019 and 2025 IIHF World Championships, capturing Bronze this past May in his hometown of Stockholm.
Wennberg is also one of the Sharks’ top penalty-killing forwards and leads the team with 666 faceoffs taken, including 112 on the power play.
Wennberg, 31, was a first round draft choice, 14th overall, by the Blue Jackets in 2013. The Sharks signed Wennberg to a two-year, $10 million contract as a free agent on July 1, 2024, and he is slated to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
The other Swedish-born Sharks players, forward William Eklund and defensemen John Klingberg and Timothy Liljegren, were not named to the 25-man team. Eklund and Klingberg both missed time earlier in the season with injuries. Eklund has 26 points in 36 games this season and has mainly played the wing during his NHL career.
Wennberg, Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog and Tampa Bay’s Pontus Holmberg were three forwards named to the Swedish Olympic team on Friday who were not on the country’s roster for last February’s 4 Nations Face-Off.
Viktor Arvidsson of the Boston Bruins and ex-Shark Gustav Nyquist of the Winnipeg Jets were on Sweden’s 4 Nations team but did not make the Olympic roster.
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson, who played with the Sharks for five seasons from 2018 to 2023, was one of eight blueliners named to Sweden’s team. Karlsson won a third Norris Trophy in his final year with the Sharks in 2022-23 after he had 101 points in 82 games.
The other 11 forwards on Sweden’s roster are Jesper Bratt (New Jersey), Leo Carlsson (Anaheim), Joel Eriksson Ek (Minnesota), Filip Forsberg (Nashville), Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles), Elias Lindholm (Boston), William Nylander, (Toronto), Elias Pettersson (Vancouver), Rickard Rakell (Pittsburgh), Lucas Raymond (Detroit) and Mika Zibanejad (New York Rangers).
The seven other defensemen are Rasmus Andersson (Calgary), Philip Broberg (St. Louis), Jonas Brodin (Minnesota), Rasmus Dahlin (Buffalo), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Toronto), Gustav Forsling (Florida), and Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay).
The goalies are Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt of Minnesota and Jacob Markstrom (New Jersey).
Sweden plays Italy on Feb. 11 to open the Pool Play portion of the Olympic tournament, followed by games against rival Finland on Feb. 13 and Slovakia on Feb. 14.
Celebrini, the Sharks’ leading scorer with 62 points, was named to Canada’s star-studded team on Wednesday.
Other Sharks players expected to be named to Olympic rosters in the coming days are winger Pavol Regenda (Slovakia) and forward Philipp Kurashev (Switzerland).
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