The Vancouver Canucks wrapped up their 2024–25 season a little less than a month ago, but some players are already back in game-time action. Four Canucks are joining their respective country’s teams at the 2025 IIHF World Championship, which will take place in Stokholm, Sweden, and Herning, Denmark. Here are the four Canucks vying against one-another for gold at this year’s World Championship.
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Conor Garland, USA
Garland announced that he would be joining Team USA during his end-of-season media availability. The forward has represented USA twice at the World Championships, claiming a bronze medal in 2021 and finishing fourth in 2023. In his first World Championship, Garland scored six goals and seven assists in 10 games, placing second in points of all players in the tournament. His second go-around with Team USA, during which he wore an ‘A’, resulted in two goals and six assists in 10 tournament matches. This year, as an assistant captain again, he’ll be joined by fellow Canuck Drew O’Connor, Columbus Blue Jackets standout Zach Werenski, and Team USA captain Clayton Keller.
Drew O’Connor, USA
This is not O’Connor’s first time representing Team USA at the World Championships, as the forward also played for his home country’s team in 2023. He impressed during his last World Championship, potting three goals and five assists in 10 games to tie him for fourth in points on his team. In his upcoming stint with Team USA, he’ll be surrounded by more young, high-end talent that will likely help his team to a higher podium placement than their fourth-place finish in 2023.
Marcus Pettersson, Sweden
Pettersson has the second-most IIHF experience on this list, having represented Sweden three times at the World Championships throughout his career. His first stint with Team Sweden at the World Championships was in 2019, in which he put up one assist in eight games alongside current Canuck Elias Pettersson, and former Canucks Jacob Markström, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Elias Lindholm, and Loui Eriksson. In 2022, his next attempt at a gold medal with Sweden, he and his team were unable to make it out of the quarterfinals. 2024 was noticeably better for Sweden, which snagged a bronze medal after a win against Canada. In this effort, Pettersson had three goals and five assists in 10 games played.
While Canucks top prospect Tom Willander had been expected to join Pettersson and Sweden this year, on Monday, the team announced he had not made the cut.
Filip Hronek, Czechia
With four appearances for Czechia at the World Championships, Hronek is the most experienced player on this list in terms of the upcoming IIHF tournament. News of his commitment to the team had been released on April 20, though confirmation of this didn’t arise until a couple of days ago. He first represented Czechia at the World Championships in 2018, back when he was still with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL. In the team’s quarterfinal effort, Hronek had a goal and two assists in eight games played. The year after, he scored three goals and eight assists to help his team to fourth place. His next appearance was in 2021, in which Czechia was shut out 1–0 by Finland in the quarterfinals. Hronek wore an ‘A’ in the tournament and tallied a goal and three assists in seven games. In his last World Championship, 2022, Hronek and Czechia nabbed a bronze medal after defeating Team USA 8–4. He had two assists in the 10-game effort.
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