Hellberg, Söderblom to represent Sweden at 2022 IIHF World Championship

Detroit Red Wings goaltender @Magnus Hellberg and prospect Elmer Söderblom will represent Sweden at the 2022 IIHF Men’s World Championship.

The Swedish ice hockey federation announced its roster for the tournament on Wednesday. The 2022 Worlds will take place in the Finnish cities of Helsinki and Tampere from May 13 to 29.

Notably absent from the Swedish roster: Jonatan Berggren. Previous reports indicated that Berggren would be named to the Swedish roster, but he’ll miss the tournament after testing positive for COVID-19.

As expected, Red Wings forward @Lucas Raymond was not named to the Swedish team. Reports surfaced earlier this month that Raymond had declined the invitation to represent his country at the 2022 Worlds, citing the desire for rest after his NHL rookie season.

Hellberg, 31, appeared in one game with the Red Wings in 2021–22 after joining the team in the final month of the season. The 6’5″ netminder stopped 20 of the 23 shots he faced in his Red Wings debut, a 5–3 win over the New Jersey Devils on April 29.

The Red Wings originally selected Söderblom, 20, in the sixth round of the 2020 NHL Draft. The massive forward (6’7″, 216 lbs.) is coming off a similarly huge year in the Swedish Hockey League, scoring 21 goals and 33 points in 52 games.

In addition to Hellberg and Söderblom, six Red Wings players will participate at the 2022 Worlds: @Alex Nedeljkovic (USA), @Riley Barber (USA), @Moritz Seider (Germany), @Jakub Vrana (Czechia), @Filip Hronek (Czechia), and @Pius Suter (Switzerland).

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