San Jose Sharks winger William Eklund will likely be amongst 13 forwards chosen for Sweden's participation within the four-nation clash. based on a printed report Monday on this country.
Eklund was asked to hitch the Swedish national team and accepted the offer, based on Expressen. a Swedish national newspaper.
The official 23-player rosters for Sweden and Finland will likely be unveiled Wednesday at 11 a.m. (PST) on ESPN and the NHL Network. The American and Canadian team rosters will likely be announced Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. (PST) on TNT.
Each country's squad – which incorporates three goalkeepers, seven defensemen and 13 forwards – needed to be submitted by Monday. It could be the primary time for Eklund to play for the Swedish men's national team.
Eklund, a 22-year-old Stockholm native, recently confirmed to the Bay Area News Group that he has had discussions with Team Sweden coach Sam Hallam, who was on the bench for Tre Kronor on the last two World Cups.
After Sunday's NHL games, Eklund was fourth amongst all Swedish-born forwards with 22 points, behind only New Jersey's Jesper Bratt (31), Los Angeles' Adrian Kempe (25) and Detroit's Lucas Raymond (24).
Before the Sharks' game against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, Eklund had 13 points in his last 11 games. Eklund has also improved his 200-foot game and develop into one in all the Sharks' most reliable penalty strikers.
Eklund, who was drafted seventh overall by the Sharks in 2021, plays alongside Macklin Celebrini and Fabian Zetterlund at San Jose's helm. But his ability to kill penalties and prevail against experienced teams was seen as Eklund's best hope of being one in all Sweden's 13 forwards on the event, with games played in Boston and Montreal.
Sweden plays Canada on February twelfth and Finland on February fifteenth on the Bell Center in Montreal. They will face the United States on the TD Garden in Boston on February 17 to conclude the round-robin portion of the tournament. The top two teams will play one another in the ultimate on February twentieth in Boston.
Expressen's report didn’t reveal which other players are within the Swedish squad. Zetterlund was also considered a candidate for a squad spot with nine goals and 19 points in 27 games this season.
Players already added to Sweden's roster include defensemen Gustav Forsling of Florida, Victor Hedman of Tampa Bay and former Shark Erik Karlsson of Pittsburgh. The aforementioned forwards were Filip Forsberg of Nashville, William Nylander of Toronto and Mika Zibanejad of the New York Rangers.
Sharks center Mikael Granlund is anticipated to be one in all the 13 Finnish forwards. He is a veteran of international hockey tournaments and has previously spoken about how much it means to him to represent his country.
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