Two Canucks prospects make Sweden’s world junior list
The Vancouver Canucks don’t have a deep pool, but they will have at least two players at the IIHF World Junior Championship this year.
Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Elias Pettersson (the other), are among the 24 players named to Sweden’s roster for the 2023 World Juniors, which begin later this month in Halifax and Moncton.
The Canucks drafted both prospects in July, taking Lekkerimäki 15th overall in the first round, while Pettersson was selected 80th overall in round 3.
The JVM squad 💥
Here are the players that national team captain Magnus Hävelid is bringing to the JVM in Canada.
“We have an offensively impactful team,” says Magnus Hävelid, the national team captain for the Junior crowns.Read more about JVM here: https://t.co/0KlG0EzX5W#wjc2023 #jvm #juniorcrowns pic.twitter.com/eVuT49nmI5
— Three Crowns (@Trekronorse) December 7, 2022
It has been a difficult season for Lekkerimäki, who had just 1 goal and 4 assists in 20 games with a team in the second division of the Swedish professional league before suffering a concussion. The 11-foot winger is very skilled and expects to be a goalscorer. The 18-year-old Swede had three points, all assists, at the 2022 tournament.
Pettersson, 18, shares the same name as the Canucks’ star player. A 6-foot-3 defenseman, he has appeared in 22 SHL games this year, with one assist.
Lekkerimäki and Pettersson may well be the only Canucks prospects in this year’s tournament, as Canucks prospects were shut out of Canada’s and USA’s preliminary lists.
Finnish goaltender Aku Koskenvuo, who plays for Harvard in the NCAA, could also be selected, but he’s hardly a lock to make it.
Vancouver’s lack of players in the World Juniors is primarily a result of Jim Benning’s rolling and handling of draft picks in the 2021 offseason. the trade. The former Canucks GM also traded away a third round pick in 2021 for Jason Dickinson.
Vancouver’s top prospect from the 2021 draft, second-round pick Danila Klimovich, is ineligible to play in this year’s tournament because his country (Belarus) has been banned by the IIHF, along with Russia, for their part in the war in Ukraine.
The puck drops on this year’s tournament in Halifax and Moncton on Boxing Day. All Group A games, featuring Canada, Sweden, Czech Republic, Germany and Austria, will be played at the Scotiabank Center in Halifax. Group B teams, which include the United States, Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia and Latvia, will play matches at the Avenir Center in Moncton.
The Gold Game is set for January 5 in Halifax.
Canada won a tournament-record 19th gold medal last year in Edmonton, defeating Finland in the final. This tournament has been quite competitive in recent years, as Canada has won gold only four times in the last 13 tournaments. The USA (4), Finland (3), Sweden (1) and Russia (1) have also won gold since 2010.