William Nylander will compete for his country at the upcoming World Championships, Team Sweden officials have confirmed.

It is the first time that Nylander, who turns 21 years old today, will compete in a senior international tournament as a professional player. It is also the first time Nylander has represented Sweden since the 2016 World Junior Championships, a tournament that was cut short after Nylander sustained an apparent concussion on an open-ice hit in the first game against Switzerland. All told, Nylander represented Sweden in five international junior tournaments.

A chance to win a championship for the Tre Kronor will cap off a highly successful rookie year in the NHL for Nylander. He was twice named rookie of the month (in October and March) and set a franchise rookie record with a 12-game points streak, which is also the fifth longest in NHL history. He finished third in rookie points scoring with 61 (behind Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine, tied with teammate Mitch Marner) and led all rookies in power play points with 26.

Nylander will join a Team Sweden roster that includes NHLers Jonas Brodin, Alexander Edler, Oliver Ekman Larsson, Joel Eriksson Ek, Victor Hedman, William Karlsson, John Klingberg, Marcus Krüger, Gabriel Landeskog, Elias Lindholm, Eddie Lack, Joakim Nordström, Anton Strålman, and Carl Söderberg.

Nylander is the second Maple Leaf to accept an invitation to the Worlds, with Mitch Marner arriving in Geneva, Switzerland over the weekend to start preparation for the tournament with Team Canada.

Frederik Andersen, James van Riemsdyk and Morgan Rielly declined invites from Team Denmark, Team USA and Team Canada, respectively.

Team Sweden will open the tournament against Russia on May 5.

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