At least three members of the 麻豆传媒映画Canucks will be representing their countries at the 2023 World Hockey Championship.
While rosters have yet to be named for the tournament, which is set to be hosted between Tampere, Finland and Riga, Latvia, three Canucks have made commitments to play for their respective countries: Elias Pettersson for Sweden, Ethan Bear for Canada, and Conor Garland for Team USA.
Editor's note: Elias Pettersson will not be participating in the World Championship after he was unable to get insurance for future earnings on his as-yet-unsigned contract after next season. Tyler Myers, however, has committed to playing for Team Canada, so the Canucks will still have three players at the tournament.
The annual tournament will take place from May 12 to May 28, meaning the only NHL players who can participate are those who have been eliminated from the playoffs by that time.
Aftonbladet reported that Pettersson has to play for Sweden. Pettersson led all Swedish NHLers in scoring this season with 102 points, making him a prime target for the national team.
It certainly doesn鈥檛 hurt that Sweden will be coached by Sam Hallam, who previously coached Pettersson with the V盲xj枚 Lakers in the SHL.
The one hang-up for Pettersson will be acquiring insurance against his future earnings, which will reportedly cost two to three million kroner 鈥� approximately $263,000 to $394,000 Canadian 鈥� in premiums, which will be split between the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and Swedish Ice Hockey Federation.
The tournament is not without risks, as Oliver Ekman-Larsson discovered last year when he suffered a broken foot that prevented him from working out properly in the offseason. Ekman-Larsson pointed the finger at that broken foot as a big reason why he struggled so much this past season.
Pettersson has represented Sweden at two previous World Championships, winning a gold medal with Sweden in 2018. He had 10 points in 8 games at the 2019 World Championship but Sweden suffered an overtime loss to Finland in the quarterfinals.
This will be Ethan Bear鈥檚 first time representing Canada internationally since the World Under-18 Championship in 2015, where he won a bronze medal. He also earned a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup.
Bear鈥檚 decision to play for Team Canada is interesting as he鈥檚 currently without a contract for next season. Even though he鈥檚 a restricted free agent, it鈥檚 still unusual for players to participate in the World Championship without a contract in case an injury hinders any potential negotiations.
Bear seemed entirely unconcerned about his contract situation at the end of the season, however, and said that the Canucks had already tried to get him signed in November. During his year-end media availability, general manager Patrik Allvin seemed comfortable cracking jokes about Bear鈥檚 next contract, which could be an indication that a deal is close to being done.
鈥淚鈥檓 not sure if he鈥檚 worth a raise or not,鈥� Allvin quipped with a laugh. 鈥淏ut he鈥檚 a good person and a good player.鈥�
If the Canucks re-sign Bear before the start of the World Championship, that would provide some peace of mind for Bear and some clarity as to why he was willing to say yes to Team Canada. Of course, representing your country might also be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Bear, so perhaps he would have said yes no matter what.
This will be Conor Garland鈥檚 second World Championships after a dominant performance for Team USA in 2021. Garland led the US in scoring that year with 13 points in 10 games, which was second in the tournament in scoring, and he was named to the tournament All-Star Team.
Garland and Team USA fell short of the gold medal game, however, losing to Canada in the semifinals before defeating Germany for the bronze medal.
It is unknown if any other Canucks will be participating in the World Championship.
