The announcement has been long delayed, and some of us have been on the edge of our seats waiting, but it was officially announced today that William Nylander of the Toronto Maple Leafs is going to the 2017 IIHF World Championships.
This is the first time Nylander, who turns 21 today (Happy Birthday, William!), has ever worn the Tre Kronor jersey on the senior team. He has played at every junior level including U16 for his country, and they are a country that doesn’t often go for the very young players on the men’s team.
Aftonbladet reports that Nylander was contacted by assistant coach Johan Garpenlöv, and that he said, “I'm psyched as hell,” about playing on the team.
He joins an historic squad this year as the 16th NHL player on the roster. The World Championship roster is not final, but he will join this list of players who played in the Carlson Hockey Games that ended yesterday.
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This is the most current roster, with a few cuts since the Carlson Hockey Games:
Current Roster
Goaltenders
30. Viktor Fasth
31. Eddie Läck
35. Niklas Svedberg
Defenders
3. John Klingberg
5. Philip Holm
6. Anton Strålman
9. Calle Rosén
23. Oliver Ekman Larsson
25. Jonas Brodin
77. Victor Hedman
Alexander Edler
Forwards
16. Marcus Krüger
18. Dennis Everberg
20. Joel Lundqvist
24. Joel Eriksson Ek
28. Elias Lindholm
34. Carl Söderberg
42. Joakim Nordström
48. Carl Klingberg
49. Victor Rask
67. Linus Omark
70. Mario Kempe
71. William Karlsson
92. Gabriel Landeskog
William Nylander
Joel Lundqvist was captain for these games with Gabriel Landeskog and Viktor Hedman as the alternates.
Where Nylander will slot into the lineup is a question. The winger on the top line with Carolina’s Victor Rask and Elias Linholm was Linus Omark. Joel Eriksson Ek, the other really young player on the roster, was very effective with Avalanche rivals Landeskog and Carl Söderberg. It will be hard to move him off of that line.
Nylander has already bested his father Michael’s rookie NHL scoring numbers, but the concussion William suffered at his second WJC meant he couldn’t best his fathers junior points. At the World Championships, he needs to get busy; he’s got 10 appearances and 62 points to chase down. Time to get started!
The World Championships begins for Sweden in Cologne, Germany with a game against Russia on May 5. Nothing like starting out against the toughest competition!
