Lightning defender Victor Hedman will represent his home country in next year’s winter -OS.

The Lightning announced on Monday that Hedman has been selected to play for Sweden, the first of several Tampa Bay players expected to participate in the Beijing Games in February.

Although he has represented Sweden several times in international games, it will be the first time Hedman is selected for the Olympics. He was not selected for the 2014 games, and in 2018, NHL players did not participate.

Hedman has expressed his desire to represent his homeland on the biggest international stage and said that it would be the realization of a lifelong dream.

The NHL had built a three-week break into the regular season schedule to allow players to participate.

“This could be the first, it could be my last Olympics and it will be incredible to have that opportunity to play in the Olympics and represent my country,” Hedman said two weeks ago. “So I do not care where in the world it should be or at what stage throughout the season. That’s what we’re trained for. That is what we are prepared to do mentally. ”

Other Lightning players expected to be tapped include Brayden Point (Canada), Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Mikhail Sergachev (Russia), Ondrej Palat and Jan Rutta (Czech Republic), Erik Cernak (Slovakia) and Ryan McDonagh (USA).

Captain Steven Stamkos can be selected to play for Canada, who will be coached by Lightning’s Jon Cooper.

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