The Swedish Ice Hockey Association announced on Saturday that three players of the Nashville Predators will join the Swedish national team for the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship: forwards Viktor Arvidsson, Filip Forsberg and defenceman Mattias Ekholm.

The Swedish national team has kept roster spots open for five skaters. After adding the trio from Nashville, Tre Kronor will still be able to add two more players up to two hours before a game.

With Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson the top-two scorers of the Nashville Predators will join the Swedish national team.

Forsberg was the Preds' scoring leader both in the regular season with 64 points (26+38) in 67 games and in the playoffs with 16 points (7+9) in 13 games
that currently rank him seventh overall in NHL playoff scoring. The 23-year-old will play his second IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship after 2015.
He also played in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and won one gold and two silver medals in three IIHF World Junior Championships. He played his junior and pro hockey in Sweden in Leksand before moving to Nashville in 2013, one year after being drafted in the first round.

Arvidsson was Nashville's goal scoring leader in the regular season and second in points. In 78 games he had 29 goals and 32 assists. He also played in 13 playoff games (5 goals, 4 assists). For the 25-year-old it will be the first top-level event with the men's national team. In his two only previous IIHF events he won silver both at the U18 Worlds in 2011 and at the 2013 IIHF World
Junior Championship. He won back-to-back Swedish championships with Skelleftea in 2013 and 2014 before moving to Nashville in 2014.

27-year-old defenceman Mattias Ekholm has the most World Championship experience of this trio having played in three World Championships (2014, 2015,
2016) before as well as in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. He appeared in 81 regular-season games (10 goals, 24 assists) and 13 playoff games (1 goal, 7 assists) for the Predators. Also Ekholm left Sweden the year after winning a championship, with Brynas in 2012, to join Nashville. In IIHF play he won bronze medals at the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship and at the 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship.

MARTIN MERK

http://https://www.new-iihf.com/en/events/2018/wm/news/2812/nashville-trio-for-tre-kronor
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