Swedish Canucks prospects who have competed in the World Juniors recently.
The 2025 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships are fast approaching, with exhibition matches starting as early as December 19. December 26 marks the first day of the tournament itself, and games will be played nearly every day until the gold medal game on January 5. To get into the World Juniors spirit, let’s take a look at some recent performances from Canucks prospects sorted by country. Here are some highlights from the past 15 years of Team Sweden.
2024: Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Elias Pettersson (D), and Tom Willander
Three Canucks prospects played in the 2023–24 World Juniors, with all three players competing for Team Sweden. Lekkerimäki tore up the competition, scoring a tournament-leading seven goals in seven games played. He was named MVP of the tournament and selected as part of the tournament’s All-Star Team. Elias Pettersson (D) also took to the ice for Sweden in 2024, playing in all seven games and collecting two assists. Canucks fans also got their first glimpse of Tom Willander as a Vancouver prospect on international ice, watching him net a goal and two assists.
2023: Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Elias Pettersson
Sweden’s 2023 squad marked the first World Juniors Championship for Pettersson (D). He put up a respectable three assists in seven games played. While this was Lekkerimäki’s second time playing in the World Juniors, this was his first as a member of the Canucks organization. In seven games, he potted a goal and tallied three assists.
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2022: Jonathan Lekkerimäki (Pre-Draft)
Lekkerimäki played in his first World Juniors tournament before being drafted by the Canucks in 2022. As an 18-year-old, he had three assists in seven games.
2021: Arvid Costmar
A COVID-19-depleted Team Sweden saw former Canucks prospect, Arvid Costmar, slide into their lineup for the 2021 World Junior Championship. Costmar was a seventh round draft pick in 2019. He currently plays for Djurgårdens IF, which is a part of HockeyAllsvenskan. In five World Juniors games, he scored two goals.
2020: Nils Höglander
Höglander made a great impression on all audiences in his World Juniors campaign in 2020, starting it off with a lacrosse-style goal in Team Sweden’s game against Finland. In seven games, he put up five goals and six assists, placing him third in scoring throughout the entire tournament. Höglander and Team Sweden finished third overall, grabbing themselves a bronze medal. Ironically enough, his nation was knocked out of gold medal contention by another Canuck prospect at the time, Vasili Podkolzin, and Team Russia.
2019: Erik Brännström
Brännström was not with Vancouver at the time of his World Juniors competitions, as he was still a member of the Ottawa Senators. In 2019, Brännström was named captain of Team Sweden. He scored four goals in five games, a stat that tied him for sixth overall in the tournament alongside Emil Bemström (currently of the Pittsburgh Penguins) and Morgan Frost of the Philadelphia Flyers.
2018: Elias Pettersson and Erik Brännström (Vegas Golden Knights)
2018 was the first and only World Junior Championship that saw Elias Pettersson compete as a member of the Canucks organization. He was a points per game player with five goals and two assists in seven games. Competing alongside him was Brännström, who was named an alternate captain and put up a goal and three assists in the same span of time. At the time, Brännström was still part of the Vegas Golden Knights organization.
2017: Elias Pettersson (Pre-Draft)
Pettersson’s first stint with Team Sweden’s U20 roster occurred before he was picked fifth overall by Vancouver in the 2017 NHL Draft. In 2017, he put up one assist in Sweden’s six games.
2015: Gustav Forsling
Before Gustav Forsling went on to find success with the Florida Panthers, he was part of the Canucks’ organization. Drafted in the fifth round in 2014, Forsling had an impressive World Juniors Tournament in 2015 and was soon traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for Adam Clendening. He had three goals and five assists in seven games, making him the highest-scoring defenceman of the tournament.
