Blackhawks prospect Niklas Nordgren was named to Finland’s preliminary roster Monday for the 2019 World Junior Championship.
Finland will play training games against Denmark and Canada on Dec. 19 and 23, respectively, in Victoria, British Columbia, before naming its final roster Dec. 24.
The 5-foot-9, 170-pound winger has four goals and seven points in 12 games for HIFK in Liiga — Finland’s top division. He also has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in eight contests for HIFK’s junior team.
Nordgren, who was selected by Chicago in the third round this past June, is no stranger to playing for his country. He led the Lions with eight goals and was named a top three player on the team during Finland’s gold medal run at the last under-18 World Juniors tournament.
Canada is the reigning U20 World Juniors champion. They’ll host the upcoming tournament from Dec. 26 to Jan. 6 in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia.
Finland’s World Junior camp roster: pic.twitter.com/ycSS3IsbeO
— Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) December 3, 2018