The Calgary Flames announced Tuesday, April 22 that captain Mikael Backlund will represent Sweden on home ice for the Men’s World Hockey Championships from May 9 to 25.
Backlund is coming off a 2024-25 campaign where he scored 15 goals and 32 points in 76 games for the Flames.
The 24th overall pick from 2007 has been a regular for Team Sweden during his career, appearing in one Hlinka Memorial tournament, two U-18 World Championships, two World Juniors, one World Cup of Hockey and five World Championships.
He last represented the Tre Kronor at the 2018 World Championships, where he scored two goals and nine points as team captain, enroute to leading his country to the gold medal.
The 36-year-old isn’t the only Flames player headed to Sweden and Denmark, as teammates MacKenzie Weegar (Canada), Matt Coronato (U.S.), Rasmus Andersson (Sweden) and Dan Vladar (Czechia) are also expected to do international duty during the tournament, although rookie defenseman Zayne Parekh is expected to join Canada for its pre-tournament games.