Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky said Wednesday they will represent their respective countries at the 2024 IIHF World Championship in Prague, to be held May 10-26.
Caufield, 23, from Wisconsin, has represented the United States at the U-17, U-18 and the IIHF World Junior Championships, but this will be his first time at the senior-level international tournament.
Slafkovsky represented Slovakia at the 2021 and 2022 editions of the competition, where he recorded a combined three goals and six assists across 14 games.
After the world championships, the 20-year-old shared that his summer plans include going on vacation in Spain.
“He’s got everything. Experience is going to come and he’s going to get more confident, get bigger, stronger, faster. That’s pretty scary from where he’s at right now too,” Canadiens teammate Nick Suzuki said on Wednesday about Slafkovsky.
Suzuki, 24, was invited to play for Canada, but said he hasn’t decided if he’ll feature at the tournament or not.
On the other hand, teammates Samuel Montembeault and Mike Matheson have decided not to participate in this year’s championship.
According to Sportsnet’s Eric Engels, Matheson declined the invitation from Team Canada because his wife is due to have a baby on May 21.
Slovakia and USA will meet on May 13 at 10:20 a.m. ET / 7:20 a.m. PT at Ostrava Arena in Czech Republic.