Big News Coming to Three Vancouver Canucks After IIHF Report
Photo credit: TSN
The Vancouver Canucks could be well represented on and off the ice for Team Canada at next month's IIHF World Championship.
With the Vancouver Canucks' season coming to an end tomorrow after failing to clinch a playoff spot, the team will begin to look towards the summer and preparations for next season, but some players on their roster will have the opportunity to represent their nation in May.
The 2025 IIHF World Championship is set to get underway on Friday, May 9th in Stockholm, Sweden and Herning, Denmark and while a couple Canucks have already turned down an invitation to play at the tournament, it looks like a few others are in contention to represent Team Canada.
Team Canada GM Kyle Dubas says trio of Vancouver Canucks are on his radar
During an appearance on Donnie & Dhali on Tuesday, Pittsburgh Penguins General Manager Kyle Dubas, who is serving as Team Canada's GM for the tournament, shared that a trio of Vancouver Canucks are on his radar for next month's World Championship.
Kyle Dubas said that defenseman Tyler Myers and forward Jake DeBrusk could be in the mix to play for Canada at the tournament.
Myers has represented Canada at three IIHF World Championships - 2010, 2014 and 2022, taking home the gold medal the last time he wore the Maple Leaf.
As for Jake DeBrusk, he has never played for Canada on the international stage at any point during his hockey career, so if he's selected, the 2025 IIHF World Championship would be his national team debut.
"Both players are firmly on the radar and we'll continue to evaluate them in the last couple days before we have to start putting out invites and getting guys locked into the team and ready to travel to the pre-tournament on May 1st." Dubas said.
Meanwhile, Dubas added that head coach Rick Tocchet, who was an assistant coach at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, could be an option behind the bench for Team Canada.
"Well, I think when it comes to Canadian coaches in the NHL, Rick [Tocchet] was apart of Jon Cooper's staff because Coop felt he would add a lot to the group and he did. Once it wraps with the Canucks in the next couple of days, we'll have a deeper discussion with Rick and obviously we want to have continuity between the staffs, but you also never know what exactly coaches or management or players have on the go outside of hockey with their day-to-day lives." Dubas said.
He added, "We'll see where Rick is at. Obviously he's one of the top coaches in the league and did a great job for us at the 4 Nations Face-Off and we regard him very highly. So, we'll see where he's at once the year ends and what he has on the go and whether he can fully jump in to it and if so, that's great and if not, there's a really strong group of Canadian coaches that would be excited to carry the ball in that role."
He added, "We'll see where Rick is at. Obviously he's one of the top coaches in the league and did a great job for us at the 4 Nations Face-Off and we regard him very highly. So, we'll see where he's at once the year ends and what he has on the go and whether he can fully jump in to it and if so, that's great and if not, there's a really strong group of Canadian coaches that would be excited to carry the ball in that role."
Team Canada is set to begin their quest for a 29th gold medal at the IIHF World Championship on Day 2 of the tournament, May 10th, when they face Slovenia at 3:20 am PT on TSN.
In addition to Slovenia, Canada will also face Latvia (May 11th), France (May 13th), Austria (May 15th), Slovakia (May 17th), Finland (May 19th) and Sweden (May 20th) in the preliminary round.
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