Team Sweden announced the final cuts to their roster today.  Leaving the team is defender Filip Westerlund and forwards Lucas Elvenes, David Gustafsson, and Jacob Olofsson.

This means Timothy Liljegren joins a very exciting group of blueliners to play in Buffalo in a few days. All eyes will be on the top-ranked 2018 draft prospect Rasmus Dahlin — all eyes but ours, of course.  We should expect to see Liljegren paired up with a more defensive-minded partner and to get some power play time, but he is not the top man in the group.

Liljegren is, however, one of only two right-shooting defenders with Westerlund cut. The other is Gustav Lindström. Sweden is used to a glut of lefites at the junior team level, but Liljegren’s handedness might help him grab a decent amount of playing time.

The final roster is as follows:

Goalies

1 GK Larsson Filip Tri-City Storm USA 17.08.98 Stockholm
30 GK Gustavsson Filip Pittsburgh Penguins USA 07.06.98 Skellefteå
35 GK Eriksson Ek Olle Färjestads BK SWE 22.06.99 Karlstad

Defenders

5 D Lindström Gustav Almtuna IS SWE 20.10.98 Östervåla
6 D Högberg Linus Växjö Lakers HC SWE 04.09.98 Stockholm
7 D Liljegren Timothy Toronto Maple Leafs CAN 30.04.99 Kristianstad
8 D Dahlin Rasmus Frölunda HC SWE 13.04.00 Trollhättan
23 D Sellgren Jesper MODO Hockey SWE 11.06.98 Örnsköldsvik
26 D Brännström Erik Vegas Golden Knights USA 02.09.99 Nässjö
27 D Moverare Jacob Los Angeles Kings USA 31.08.98 Östersund

Forwards

9 F Söderlund Tim Skellefteå AIK SWE 23.01.98 Skellefteå
10 F Davidsson Marcus Djurgårdens IF SWE 18.11.98 Tyresö
12 F Gustafsson Glenn Örebro HK SWE 04.09.98 Sorunda
14 F Pettersson Elias Växjö Lakers HC SWE 12.11.98 Sundsvall
16 F Lindström Linus Skellefteå AIK SWE 08.01.98 Skellefteå
17 F Karlström Fredrik Linköping HC SWE 12.01.98 Stockholm
19 F Nylander Alexander Buffalo Sabres USA 02.03.98 Calgary, CAN
20 F Lundeström Isac Luleå HF SWE 06.11.99 Gällivare
21 F Boqvist Jesper Brynäs IF SWE 30.10.98 Falun
22 F Jonsson Fjällby Axel Djurgårdens IF SWE 10.02.98 Stockholm
24 F Andersson Lias New York Rangers USA 13.10.98 Smögen
28 F Zetterlund Fabian Färjestads BK SWE 25.08.99 Karlstad
29 F Steen Oskar Färjestads BK SWE 09.03.98 Karlstad

The captain is Lias Andersson, and the assistants are Erik Brännström, Jacob Moverare, and Alexander Nylander.

This is a really strong team top to bottom, with some star power at all positions and good depth. They start the tournament on Boxing Day in the early game at 2 p.m. against Belarus.

IIHF World Championships