Screen cap: Youtube: Capitals
Team Sweden announced the addition of five NHL/AHL players to their 2023 IIHF World Championship preliminary roster on Wednesday. The announced additions included Washington Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin.
“Federation captain Sam Hallam can today announce that Jakob Silfverberg (Anaheim), Lucas Raymond (Detroit), Jonatan Berggren (Detroit), Rasmus Sandin (Washington) and Alexander Nylander (Pittsburgh) are ready for the hockey WC in Finland.”
VM-klara NHL-spelare 💥
Förbundskapten Sam Hallam kan idag presentera att Jakob Silfverberg (Anaheim), Lucas Raymond (Detroit), Jonatan Berggren (Detroit), Rasmus Sandin (Washington) och Alexander Nylander (Pittsburgh) är klara för hockey-VM i Finland. 🏒🇸🇪 pic.twitter.com/h7ADn0ymDc— Tre Kronor (@Trekronorse) April 26, 2023
All five will join the squad next week and will be on the ice for Tre Kronor in the 2023 Carlson Hockey Games, a pre-World Championship tuneup tournament, which will be played between May 4-7. Five games will be played in Czechia and one match in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Team Sweden’s tournament begins with a match against Switzerland in Gothenburg on May 4 and then continues with matches against the Czech Republic and Finland in Czechia the weekend of May 6-7.
Team Sweden will open the The 2023 IIHF World Championship on May 12 against Germany in Tampere, Finland. [Schedule here]
Sandin has played internationally for Team Sweden on five previous occasions, all while under the age of 20. This will be his first appearance in the IIHF World Championship.
Sandin will be the only representative from the Capitals, as Nicklas Backstrom announced earlier in the month he would not participate in the annual tournament.
MORE FROM THE CAPITALS
ARLINGTON, Va. – Washington Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin will represent Sweden at the 2023 IIHF World Championship in Finland and Latvia, senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.
Sandin, 23, recorded a career-high 35 points (7g, 28a) in 71 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Capitals this season. The 5’11”, 182-pound defenseman recorded 15 points (3g, 12a) in 19 games with Washington after being acquired from Toronto on Feb. 28, including three assists in his Capitals debut on March 4 at San Jose. Sandin became the first defenseman and seventh skater in franchise history to record three points in his first game with Washington and required the fewest games (7 GP) for a defenseman to reach 10 points in franchise history. Sandin set career highs in games played (71), goals (7), assists (28) and points (35) in 2022-23, more than doubling his previous career-high point total (2021-22: 16p). In addition, Sandin ranked second on the Capitals in time on ice per game (22:59) and third in points (15) over Washington’s final 19 regular-season games.
In 159 career NHL games with Toronto and Washington, Sandin has recorded 63 points (13g, 50a).
Sandin previously represented Sweden at the 2019 and 2020 World Junior Championships, earning a bronze medal in 2020. The Uppsala, Sweden native recorded 10 points (3g, 7a) in seven games during the 2020 tournament, which led all defensemen and was named the tournament’s top defenseman. Sandin also participated in the 2017 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup, helping Sweden to the bronze medal, and captained Sweden to the gold medal at the 2016 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
By Jon Sorensen