11 Minnesota Wild Player Will Not Participate in 2024 IIHF Men’s World Championship.
Eleven Minnesota players will not represent their respective countries in the 2024 IIHF Men’s World Championship in Prague and Ostrava, Czechia, which runs from May 10 to May 26.
Six countries will be represented by Wild players: Austria (center Marco Rossi), Czechia (defenseman David Spacek), Norway (right wing Mats Zuccarello), Slovakia (goaltender Samuel Hlavac), Sweden (defenseman Jonas Brodin, center Joel Eriksson Ek, goaltender Filip Gustavsson, center Marcus Johansson, and goaltender Jesper Wallstedt), and the United States (left wing Matt Boldy and Head Coach John Hynes).
Fans may learn more about the 16 competing national teams, the tournament schedule, and the structure at iihf.com.
Rossi, 22, posted 40 points (21-19=40) while playing all 82 games for Minnesota this season, finishing T-4th on the team in goals. Among National Hockey League (NHL) rookies, he ranked second in goals, T-3rd in shots (167) and fifth in points this season. The 5-foot-9, 182-pound native of Feldkirch, Austria, was selected by Minnesota in the first round (ninth overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft and has played in 103 career NHL games in two seasons with the Wild (2022-24), totaling 41 points (21-20=41).
Spacek, 21, tallied 12 points (3-9=12) and 21 penalty minutes (PIM) in 61 games during his debut season with the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League (AHL) in 2023-24. Prior to his time in Iowa, the 6-foot-0, 191-pound defenseman played two seasons (2021-23) with the Sherbrooke Phoenix of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), recording 107 points (25-82=107) and 74 PIM. Spacek was originally selected by Minnesota in the fifth round (153rd overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft.