Blackhawks defensemen Erik Gustafsson and center Marcus Kruger will play for Sweden at the World Championship next month in Slovakia, the Swedish Ice Hockey Association announced Friday. Sweden will be looking for its third straight gold for the tournament that runs from May 10-26 in Bratislava and Kosice, Slovakia.
Gustafsson is coming off his first full NHL season where he scored 17 goals and 60 points in 79 games. The 27-year-old won gold at last year’s tournament and will be making his third World Championship appearance.
Kruger, who will turn 29 on May 27, tallied four goals and 12 points in 74 contests this past season. He won gold with Sweden in 2017 and silver in 2011, but did not suit up last year.
Blackhawks forwards Artem Anisimov (Russia) and Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane (United States) will also play in this year’s tournament. Defenseman Henri Jokiharju and goaltending prospect Kevin Lankinen were named to Finland’s preliminary roster Wednesday.
David Kampf and Dominik Kubalik (Czech Republic), Dominik Kahun(Germany), prospect Phillip Kurashev (Switzerland) and Dylan Strome and Jonathan Toews (Canada) all could head to the tournament as well.