The NHL spent part of Saturday trying to stir up offseason chatter, and in the process it managed to leave out one of the New Jersey Devils’ biggest names.
On July 18, 2026, the league’s social media account posted a prediction for what a Swedish roster could look like at the 2027 NHL All-Star Game. The setup was meant to be light offseason fun, but the result immediately drew attention for one glaring omission: Jesper Bratt.
Jesper Bratt was left off the NHL's prediction for Team Sweden at the 2027 NHL All-Star Game
That miss makes little sense on the surface. Bratt is one of the Devils’ most important players, and the source material flatly argues he belongs ahead of Adrian Kempe, Mika Zibanejad, and Gabriel Landeskog. It also points out that Leo Carlsson has never had more points than Bratt, even if he’s very young and the highest-paid player in the NHL.
The bigger issue is that the All-Star format in question would be 3v3, a setting where the Devils have thrived in recent years. That only makes Bratt’s absence look more puzzling, especially since the NHL.com piece did acknowledge that Bratt and Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond were left off without offering an explanation.
Bratt’s history with Sweden has already been a little strange. During the 2026 Winter Olympics, he was essentially benched, and that was part of why Sweden was eliminated before the medal round.
The source describes that as one of several odd coaching choices in a rough tournament for the team. Afterward, Sam Hallam was essentially replaced, though he was still allowed to coach the IIHF World Championship before his contract expired.
So Bratt may be done dealing with Hallam’s decisions, but he apparently still has to fight to get onto Team Sweden at all. The 3v3 setup makes the roster more competitive, and while no Devils player is described as a lock for the team, Bratt is presented as about as close as anyone. The source notes that Jack Hughes should be a lock for Team USA in that same format.
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