As we expected, Timothy Liljegren will leave the Marlies for a few weeks to go to Buffalo to play for Sweden at the WJC.
The 26-man preliminary roster is shown below.
The name Glen Gustafsson might ring a bell, if you payed close attention to the Leafs development camp in July. The undrafted Gustafsson was an invitee to that camp.
In his second year of men’s hockey in Sweden, he’s not making anyone excited with scoring stats, but he is holding down a regular fourth line shift at age 19. He was invited by Sweden to the World Junior Summer Showcase in late summer, and he played very well at that event, and that’s likely what secured his place on this roster. He might make the final cut out of the 15 listed here, but he’s not a sure thing like some of the stars named in the first column of forwards.
With eight defenders listed, someone is likely getting cut, but that is very unlikely to be Liljegren.
The small size of this list can be explained in part by the following:
Jesper Bratt (NJ) will not be released to Sweden’s world junior team. Tre Kronor are still waiting for the #sabres to make a decision on Alexander Nylander.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) December 6, 2017
While Bratt is a full time NHLer and no one would expect New Jersey to release him, Alex Nylander is another story. If he remains on the AHL roster, the Sabres will have to release him (as far as I know, this rule applies to all European players). But the Sabres are obviously in flux right now with their roster choices, and they may want to call him up to the NHL. If they do, Sweden has no claim.
