Top Prospect Representing the Vancouver Canuck at 2025 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship
The Vancouver Canucks will have one of their top prospects at the upcoming IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Ottawa, Ontario.
For any hockey player in the 17-19 age bracket, they dream to represent their nation at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.
Over the years, the Vancouver Canucks have had a number of their prospects at the prestigious tournament and this year's event in Ottawa, Ontario will be no different.
Each of the ten participating nations have begun releasing their training camp rosters for the event, or in Sweden's case, their final roster already.
Tom Willander heading back to the World Juniors
For the second consecutive year, Vancouver Canucks 2023 first-round pick Tom Willander will be representing Sweden at the World Juniors, the Swedish Ice Hockey Association announced on Wednesday.
"The goal is to challenge the USA and Canada, we need to produce that little extra to be able to do it. A wonderful challenge - if we do it well, we will reach our goal of winning the final." Head coach Magnus Havelid said.
Willander, 19, is expected to play a much bigger role for Sweden this year and potentially be apart of their leadership group for the tournament.
The Swedes will be excited to have Tom Willander back in the fold after he was forced to withdraw from the World Junior Summer Showcase in August due to a lower-body injury.
During last year's World Juniors, the Stockholm native had three points (one goal, two assists), two penalty minutes and was a plus-nine as he helped Sweden to a silver medal on home ice.
It's been a pretty solid season for Willander at Boston University, registering nine points (two goals, seven assists) in 14 games and it's going to be interesting if he'll make the decision to turn pro and join the Vancouver Canucks at the end of the season.
Vilmer Alriksson snubbed from Tre Kronor roster
Despite being a nearly point-per-game player heading into action on Wednesday, the Swedish Ice Hockey Association has decided not to name Vancouver Canucks prospect Vilmer Alriksson to their roster for the tournament.
The 19-year-old has enjoyed plenty of success so far in his second season with the Ontario Hockey League's Guelph Storm, putting up 19 points (nine goals, ten assists) in 20 games as of Wednesday morning.
Tom Willander and Team Sweden will open up their 2025 World Junior schedule on December 26th at 9 am PT (12 pm Local) against Slovakia.
