Pastrnak one of seven Bruins representatives set to don nation's colors
BostonBruins.com – With the 2025 IIHF World Championship beginning on Friday, seven Bruins representatives are set to don their nation’s colors as they chase the gold.
Jakub Lauko (Czechia), Elias Lindholm (Sweden), Mason Lohrei (USA), David Pastrnak (Czechia), Andrew Peeke (USA), Jeremy Swayman (USA), and prospect Dans Locmelis (Latvia) will all compete in the annual international tournament held in Stockholm, Sweden and Herning, Denmark. Split up into two groups of eight, 16 nations will compete in a round-robin tournament before the top four teams from each group battle for the world title in a single-elimination format.
After taking home gold in the 2024 World Championship for the first time since 2010, Team Czechia, including forwards Pastrnak and Lauko, will look to defend their title and become the first nation to win back-to-back championships since Sweden accomplished the feat in 2018.
Coming off of his third straight 100-point season for Boston, Pastrnak will look to further solidify his role as one of Czechia’s top players. He has won the nation’s Player of the Year award a total of seven times, sitting behind only Jaromir Jagr, who holds the record with 12. Pastrnak has skated in 51 career games for his home country, scoring 16 goals and 30 assists for 46 points across several international tournaments. Lauko has also previously competed for Czechia, last playing in the 2020 World Junior Championship.
Lohrei will also make his World Championship debut this year. “It’s an honor to have that opportunity,” said Lohrei. “It’s my first time representing the United States, and I couldn’t be more excited for it.” Peeke will join Lohrei on the back end, returning to Team USA’s roster for the first time since the 2022 World Championship.
Swayman will join the two Bruins defenseman in red, white and blue, representing the United States for the second time this year after suiting up for the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off in February. Swayman and Team USA placed second after falling to Canada in the Championship game of the tournament.
“We have something to prove, and that’s really exciting for the group of guys that’s going over there,” said Swayman.
Also returning to their country’s lineup after the 4 Nations Face-Off is Elias Lindholm, who has skated for Team Sweden for the past 10 years. Sweden captured the bronze medal last year but has yet to claim gold since the 2018 World Championship.
Locmelis, who signed his entry-level contract with the Black & Gold in April, will also appear in this year’s tournament, representing Latvia. The forward previously appeared in the 2023 and 2024 IIHF World Championships, winning the bronze medal in the 2023.
With the tournament set to begin on May 9, the first action between Bruins skaters will take place on May 14 when Latvia (Locmelis) and Sweden (Lindholm) square off. All games can be found on NHL Network in the United States and TSN in Canada.

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