Alexander Edler to Represent Canucks for Sweden at World Hockey Championship

If you’re hoping to watch Canucks win trophies, there’s a good chance you’re going to have to catch them in a different sweater to do so for the next little while. Luckily Alexander Edler will grant us one such opportunity as he’s joining Team Sweden for the 2017 World Hockey Championships.

Based on Dhiren Mahiban’s follow-up tweet, it sounds as though Edler will be the only Canuck to don the Tre Kronor for the annual tournament. Team Sweden invited the Sedin twins and Loui Eriksson to participate, but the trio respectfully declined. All three of the Canucks to turn down the invitation suffered some sort of ailment down the home stretch of the Canucks’ season, so one could hardly blame them for wanting the time off. Former Canucks goaltender and fan favourite Eddie Lack (or Eddie Leak) will also play for Sweden.

This marks the third time Edler will represent Sweden at the World Hockey Championships and the sixth time he’s represented his country internationally. In ten World Hockey Championship games, Edler’s scored once and added three assists.

The international tournament starts on May 5th. The French capital Paris and the German city of Cologne will split hosting duties. Sweden’s first game is this Friday against the Russian squad. No word on whether the defected Nikita Tryamkin will play opposite Edler.