Here's how four members of the Canucks performed at this year's 2026 IIHF World Championship.
The 2026 IIHF World Championship has officially concluded, with Vancouver Canucks forward Aatu Räty and Finland taking gold in a 1–0 win over Switzerland. Räty was the lone Canuck to finish this year’s tournament with a medal, though all managed to make it to the quarter-finals. Here’s how the 2026 IIHF World Championship went for all four members of the Canucks who took part in this year’s tournament.
Aatu Räty, Finland
Räty and Finland secured their third gold medal in the past seven World Championships with their win against Switzerland on Sunday. They won all but one game throughout the tournament, losing their preliminary round matchup against Switzerland by a score of 4–2. As a result, Finland finished second in Group A after the preliminaries.
The 2026 World Championship was the first of Räty’s career, with the Canucks forward putting up an impressive showing of four goals and three assists in 10 games, including a six-game point streak. He tied Anton Lundell and Jesse Puljujärvi for the team lead in goals for Finland (4), also recording the fourth-highest faceoff win percentage through the entire tournament with 64.39%.
Filip Hronek, Czechia
Canucks defenceman Filip Hronek and Czechia came fifth in the tournament, finishing third in Group B during the preliminary round with a record of 4–0–1–2 but falling to Finland by a score of 4–1 in the quarter-finals. While they did finish in the top-half of their group during the preliminaries, their losses to Slovenia, Norway, and Canada during the round-robin ultimately dictated their opponent.
Hronek, who also represented Czechia at the 2026 Winter Olympics earlier in the year, reprised his role as his team’s top-defender during this year’s World Championship. He consistently logged the most minutes of any player on his team through every game, even finishing with the highest average of minutes played per game throughout the competition with 24:02 minutes. The Canucks defenceman scored the lone goal in his team’s quarter-final loss and finished the tournament with three points in eight games.
Linus Karlsson, Sweden
Finishing seventh throughout the entire tournament were Canucks forward Linus Karlsson and Team Sweden. After winning four preliminary games and dropping three, all in regulation, Sweden advanced to the quarter-finals in fourth-place in Group B, though they ultimately lost 3–1 to Switzerland.
Participating in his first World Championship this year was Karlsson, who scored two goals and three assists in eight games with Sweden during the tournament. He spent the majority of his time on a line with Jacob de la Rose and Emil Heineman. The Canucks forward averaged 14:11 minutes played per game and had a total of 13 shots on goal.
Apr 14, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks forward Linus Karlsson (94) handles the puck against the Los Angeles Kings in the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn ImagesMax Sasson, USA
Defending gold-medal winner Team USA, featuring Canucks forward Max Sasson, put up a surprisingly disappointing performance during this year’s World Championship. They put together a record of 3–1–0–3 during the preliminary round to come in fourth-place in Group A, only to lose 4–0 to Canada in the quarter-finals. As a result, Team USA finished this year’s tournament in eighth place.
Sasson spent virtually the entire tournament in Team USA’s bottom-six alongside Paul Cotter and Mathieu Olivier. The forward, who also took part in his first World Championship during this year’s tournament, scored a goal and an assist in his team’s eight games played. He had 10 shots on goal and a faceoff winning percentage of 53.16% in an average of 13:57 minutes played per game.
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