Team Sweden will be without one of their best player after disagreement between them and his NHL team
A little over a week ago, it was confirmed that Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson would be heading to the 2023 IIHF World Hockey Championship to represent Sweden, but now he's had to back out due to insurance-related issues.
According to a report from Swedish media outlet, Aftonbladet, because Pettersson's contract is worth a lot, the Swedish Ice Hockey Association will not be paying for his insurance for the tournament because of the cost and have informed the Canucks of this decision.
It's also being reported that the Canucks and Pettersson wanted coverage for his next contract as well, which was confusing to the Swedish Ice Hockey Association, because it does not even exist yet.
The insurance cost SEK 2-3 million and according to reports, the Ice Hockey Association has now informed the Canucks that they cannot pay the insurance." Aftonbladet's article said.
National Team Manager Anders Lundberg posed the following question: 'The challenge with that is that when there is no agreement to insure how do you insure what does not exist?' Which makes a lot of sense because all three sides - Pettersson, the Canucks and Swedish Ice Hockey Association have no clue what a future contract will look like.
Pettersson is under contract with the Canucks for the 2023-24 season, but will become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights in July 2024. He's eligible to sign an extension on July 1st.
Without Pettersson, the Swedes will turn their attention to the tournament, which is set to be held in mid-May in Tampere (Finland) and Riga (Latvia). Sweden will open their schedule on Friday, May 12th against Germany.
Source: Aftonbladet
| POLL | ||
Is the Swedish Ice Hockey Association in the right here for not wanting to pay a massive amount on insurance for Pettersson? | ||
| Yes | 84 | 74.3 % |
| No | 17 | 15 % |
| See Results | 12 | 10.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
