The 2022 IIHF World Juniors Championship will start on with a pretournament exhibition games on Dec. 20, and with preliminary camps underway, the first rosters are starting to trickle in. Sweden’s roster, coached by Tomas Monten, was announced on Wednesday morning.
Sweden features six first-round picks in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, including the San Jose Sharks’ seventh-overall pick, William Eklund. This will be Eklund’s first World juniors tournament. Eklund was re-assigned to Djurgardens IF in the Swedish Hockey League after playing in the maximum nine NHL games before his entry-level contract would kick in. In seven games with Djurgardens so far, he’s tallied 3 assists.
Another name making his World Juniors debut is Red Wings prospect Simon Edvinsson. Currently playing for Frolunda HC, also in the SHL, Edvinsson was the third defenseman off the board in the 2021 NHL Draft, going sixth overall. In 22 games so far with Frolunda, he has totaled 1 goal and 10 assists. The EliteProspects 2021 NHL Draft Guide describes Edvinsson as a “detailed defender with high-level in-zone instincts, a tight neutral zone gap, well-timed physicality, and supporting instincts to match.”
One of the few returning players from last year’s team is goaltender Jesper Wallstedt. Wallstedt was selected by the Minnesota Wild with the 20th overall pick in the 2021 draft, and was the top-ranked European goaltender by NHL Central Scouting. He currently plays for the SHL’s Lulea HF, where his 1.88 goals against average (GAA) is second-best in the entire league, and his save percentage of .918 ranks fifth-best in the league.
In last year’s tournament, Sweden lost 3-2 in the Quarterfinals to Finland, who went on to win Bronze. Sweden’s last Gold Medal came in 2012. The team has won Silver three times since (2013, 2014 and 2018), as well as one Bronze (2020).
The 2022 World Juniors Championship will begin on with a preliminary round on Dec. 26 and concludes with the Gold Medal game on Jan. 5, 2022. Sweden’s first game of the preliminary round will be against Russia on December 26.
Sweden’s full roster can be found below.
2022 Sweden WJC Roster
GOALTENDERS
Calle Clang (Pittsburgh Penguins, 2020)
Jesper Vikman (Vegas Golden Knights, 2020)
Jesper Wallstedt (Minnesota Wild, 2021)
DEFENDERS
Emil Andrae (Philadelphia Flyers, 2020)
Simon Edvinsson (Detroit Red Wings, 2021)
Mans Forsfjall (2022 draft eligible)
Helge Grans (Los Angeles Kings, 2020)
Leo Loof (St. Louis Blues, 2020)
Joel Nystrom (Carolina Hurricanes, 2021)
Anton Olsson (Nashville Predators, 2021)
Victor Sjoholm (2022 draft eligible)
FORWARDS
William Eklund (San Jose Sharks, 2021)
Elliott Ekmark (Florida Panthers, 2020)
Daniel Ljungman (Dallas Stars, 2020)
Fabian Lysell (Boston Bruins, 2021)
Oskar Magnusson (Washington Capitals, 2020)
Theodor Niederbach (Detroit Red Wings, 2020)
Zion Nybeck (Carolina Hurricanes, 2020)
Oskar Olausson (Colorado Avalanche, 2021)
Isak Rosen (Buffalo Sabres, 2021)
Albert Sjoberg (Dallas Stars, 2021)
Ake Stakkestad (2022 draft eligible)
Elias Stenman (2022 draft eligible)
Daniel Torgersson (Winnipeg Jets, 2020)
Alexander Holtz (New Jersey Devils, 2020)
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