The Vegas Golden Knights will be well represented on Team Canada for this year’s IIHF World Championship.
Forwards Mark Stone and Jonathan Marchessault, along with defenseman Shea Theodore, are three of the 22 players that will play for Team Canada that begins May 10-26. The three players are the most for one team on the Canadian roster, which will look to win the gold medal for the first time since 2016.
Canada finished fourth in last year’s tournament.
Stone was on the 2016 team that took home the gold. He is one of three returnees from that team, along with Buffalo forward Sam Reinhart and Philadelphia forward Sean Couturier. Stone scored 10 points in 10 games in 2016.
Theodore and Marchessault will make their Team Canada debuts. Theodore, one of the Golden Knights’ top defensemen, represented Canada in the 2015 World Juniors.
Other notable names on the roster are Toronto center John Tavares, and Stone’s former teammate in Ottawa, defenseman Thomas Chabot.
Sweden has won the gold the past two seasons, and its roster has not been unveiled yet. Golden Knights center William Karlsson is expected to take part, but nothing has been determined on Vegas’ top center.
Other names expected to play in the tournament are defenseman Nate Schmidt and forward Alex Tuch for Team USA. Stone’s linemates Paul Statsny and Max Pacioretty could also get a call. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare is a name expected for Team France.
This will be the first time the Golden Knights are represented at the world championship. No one participated last season due to Vegas’ run to the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season. But with the Golden Knights being eliminated in the first round in seven games against the San Jose Sharks this season, the opportunity was there.