The 2025 IIHF Championship is right around the corner, and now two key defenseman from Canadian teams have gotten the nod for Team Sweden.
Many teams and players were disappointed to miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2025, and for many of those players, that opens up the possibility of playing in the 2025 IIHF World Championship.
We've seen many already committing to Team USA and Team Canada, and now, we've got a major announcement from Sweden, who have revealed that Vancouver's Marcus Pettersson and Calgary's Rasmus Andersson will join the Three Crowns.
This is a major boost for Sweden, who didn't quite show up at the level expected of them during the Four Nations, and with both Pettersson and Andersson being extremely experienced on the international level, it's a major boost for a team with something to prove.
In 31 games after being acquired by the Canucks, Pettersson tallied 1 goal and 11 points while tallying a +8, and while not much was expected of him after being dealt by Pittsburgh, he showed that he can lead a blue line on both sides of the puck, becoming a key piece of the Canucks defensive group moving forward.
As for Andersson, he had a tough year with the Calgary Flames, as he revealed he played the final 12 games of the year with a fractured fibula, but with his experience for Team Sweden, he's a no brainer to join the team as he tallied 11 goals and 31 points in a down year for the Flames.
Ultimately, all eyes will again being on Team Canada and the United States after the rivalry was ignited at the Four Nations, but with the wealth of experience on Team Sweden with the tournament being at home, they certainly shouldn't be taken lightly.
