William Nylander not being invited to join Sweden for the 2022 Winter Olympics?

Though a formal decision has not yet been made on NHL participation in the 2022 Winter Olympics, it appears as though teams have already begun to plan as though the players will receive the green light to participate.

With approximately 6 months remaining until the Olympic Games in Beijing are scheduled to open on February 4th, countries have already begun to discuss roster options.

According to a Swedish report, Sweden is scheduled to have a meeting next week in Stockholm to prepare for the upcoming Olympic games and as many as 27 NHL players have been invited. There was, however, one very notable absence. Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander.

Thus far, the players who were invited are as follows:

Goalies: Jacob Markström (CGY) Linus Ullmark (BOS)

Defensemen: Jonas Brodin (MIN), Rasmus Dahlin (BUF), Mattias Ekholm (NSH), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (VAN), Erik Gustafsson (MON), Victor Hedman (TBL), John Klingberg (DAL), Hampus Lindholm (ANA).

Forwards: Mikael Backlund (CGY), André Burakovsky (COL), Nicklas Bäckström (WSH), Joel Eriksson Ek (MIN), Jesper Fast (CAR), Filip Forsberg (NSH), Carl Hagelin (WSH), Patric Hörnqvist (FLA), Mattias Janmark (VGK), Calle Järnkrok (SEA), William Karlsson (VGK), Gabriel Landeskog (COL), Elias Lindholm (CGY), Elias Pettersson (VAN), Jakob Silfverberg (ANA), Alexander Wennberg (SEA) and Mika Zibanejad (NYR).

Obviously, it goes without saying that Nylander is a higher quality offensive player than several of the names on this list, which begs the question; why was Nylander left off of this list of invitees?

Perhaps it's something as simple as a conflicting schedule or some sort of an Olympic eligibility rule (Nylander was born in Calgary, Alberta). Is it possible that Sweden simply doesn't view Nylander as the type of player that the team can win with? That one seems pretty farfetched, considering the fact that Nylander is a 30-goal scorer in the best league in the world and has an excellent track record with Sweden in IIHF events.

It will be intriguing to hear the rationale behind the decision once all of the details come out.

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