Islanders’ Emil Heineman a surprise Sweden snub for 2026 Winter Olympics as Simon Holmstrom also misses cut

Tre Kronor will have noll Islanders.

Neither Emil Heineman nor Simon Holmstrom were named to Team Sweden’s Olympic squad Friday in a surprise snub for Heineman in particular.

Heineman appeared to be in good shape to get on the plane to Milan with 12 goals, six assists and an ascension into the Islanders’ top six in what’s been an excellent season in New York.

His ability to play on any line and on the penalty kill were reasons to think he’d be selected as well.

Holmstrom was seen as a longer shot to make the roster given his offensive inconsistency this season, but there was still a chance Sweden would have wanted his defensive and penalty-killing abilities.

Instead, the brass led by general manager Josef Boumedienne and coach Sam Hallam pulled a handful of surprises in its forward corps.

Lightning winger Pontus Holmberg and Sharks center Alex Wennberg, a former Ranger, were both named, though neither were on the 4 Nations roster that finished third a year ago.

Heineman may not have even been the most surprising snub, with Minnesota’s Marcus Johansson and Calgary’s Mikael Backlund both left off, as well as Bruins winger Elias Lindholm.

In the defense corps, Mattias Ekholm didn’t make it, with Phillip Broberg getting the nod instead.

On Tuesday in Chicago, Heineman said that representing his country would be “a dream come true.”

“You always fight to be a part of that,” he said. “At the same time, you’re always looking forward a little to see what the roster’s gonna be, no matter what. You cheer for your country. We have a lot of great players. It’ll be fun to see no matter what.”

It stands to reason that Heineman and Holmstrom would both be part of the pool of potential injury replacements if someone were to get hurt.

How high they’d be on that list, though, is less clear.