Oliver Ekman-Larsson will be guiding his nation through the IIHF world hockey championship.
The Toronto Maple Leafs' defenceman has been named Sweden's captain for the tournament.
“I feel honoured by the opportunity to be captain of Tre Kronor for the third time in my career," Ekman-Larsson said, via an English translation of Sweden’s national team’s Twitter account. "We have already now begun building a strong team spirit, and we will continue to build it every day during this championship.”
Ekman-Larsson also represented Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics, but was held pointless through five games. At the 2014 Winter Games, he had three assists in six games.
The 34-year-old will be joined in the leadership group by the Edmonton Oilers' Mattias Ekholm and the Detroit Red Wings' Lucas Raymond.
Ekman-Larsson is coming off a great year with the Maple Leafs, in which he had eight goals and 31 assists in 78 games.
