With the start of May comes one of the best times of the year for hockey, the Men’s Worlds. While it’s not a best-on-best tournament, it is still fun to watch players come together and represent their respective countries. This tournament is a good chance for players to prove themselves ahead of the 2026 Olympics, as well.
The Seattle Kraken have eight players shipping off to Europe to participate in the tournament this year: Matty Beniers, Brandon Montour, Eeli Tolvanen, Adam Larsson, Philipp Grubauer, Ryker Evans, Joey Daccord, and Kraken prospect Oscar Molgaard.
Defenseman Ryker Evans (Canada) and goaltender Joey Daccord (U.S.A.) will both be making their debut appearance for their respective teams at the senior level. Evans finished the 2024-25 season with five goals and 20 assists over 73 games. Daccord played in 57 games, starting 55 of them, and held a .906 save percentage with a 2.75 goals against average. He played the most games out of any goaltender in the league after January 1st, 2025.
Eeli Tolvanen will be making his second appearance for Team Finland at the senior level, his first was in the 2018 Men’s World Championship. He has played for the country 13 other times throughout his career. In 2018, Tolvanen dressed for four games and finished the tournament with four points (2G, 2A). Tolvanen finished the 2024-25 season with 35 points (23G, 12A) over 81 games.
Brandon Montour is also making his second appearance with Team Canada in the Men’s Worlds. Previously, he played in the 2019 tournament, holding zero points over three games. Team Canada took home the Silver Medal when Montour was on the team in 2019. He finished the season with 18 goals and 23 assists over 81 games in the 2024-25 season.
Matty Beniers is playing at the senior level for Team USA for the third time in his career. He previously appeared in the 2021 Men’s Worlds and the 2022 Winter Olympics. In 2021, Beniers dressed for six games and earned one goal and one assist. During the Olympics, he had one goal and one assist over four games. Beniers finished the 2024-25 season with 20 goals and 23 assists over 82 games.
Oscar Mølgaard has appeared twice at the senior level for Team Denmark, earning zero points over six games in 2023. In 2024, he dressed in seven games and finished the tournament with one goal and three assists, and was named one of the top three players for the team. In early 2025, he played in the U-20 WJC D1A, where he earned one goal and three assists over five games. Denmark took home the gold medal, and Mølgaard was named the top player on the team.
This will be defenseman Adam Larsson’s fifth time dressing for Team Sweden at the senior level; previously, he participated in the tournament in 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2022. Throughout the 2016 tournament, he held four points (1G, 3A) over eight games, followed by one goal and two assists in 10 games in the 2018 tournament. During the 2019 tournament, he dressed for eight games and had one goal and three assists. Most recently, in 2022, Larsson played in eight games with one goal and one assist. He has been named a top-three player on Team Sweden twice, taken home a gold medal once, and was named a World Championship All-Star. Larsson finished the 2024-25 season with seven goals and 21 assists over 82 games.
Philipp Grubauer has previously played for Team Germany five times at the senior level. In 2014 he started two games and finished the tournament with a .922 SV% and 2.03 GAA, in 2017 he held a .938 SV% with 2.42 GAA. Similarly to the years prior, in 2019 he played in two games with a .920 SV% and 2.86 GAA. In 2022, Grubauer was named one of the top three players on Team Germany after holding a .907 SV% and 2.43 GAA over five games. Most recently, he played in three games for Team Germany in 2024, holding a .895 SV% and allowing 3.01 GAA. Throughout the 2024-25 season, Grubauer played in just 26 games with a .875 SV% and 3.49 GAA.
The 2025 IIHF Men’s World Championship games are taking place in Stockholm, Sweden, and Herning, Denmark, from May 9th through the 25th. The tournament is separated into two groups, Group A and Group B. Group A consists of teams Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Latvia, and Slovakia. Group B consists of teams Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Norway, Switzerland, and USA. The games can be streamed through IIHF.tv with a subscription or on NHL Network.
ITR 45: Everything Is Happening – Inside The Rink
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