The highlight of this season for Nathan MacKinnon was winning for his country, so he’s going to try and do it again.
MacKinnon and fellow Colorado Avalanche forward Martin Necas will play in the 2025 IIHF World Championship, which begins Friday in Stockholm, Sweden.
No other Avalanche players, including captain Gabe Landeskog, have been registered by their home countries to play in the tournament at this point. Landeskog, who just missed nearly three years on the ice, was able to play seven games without issue at the end of this season and the tournament is in his hometown but he is not expected to join the Swedes.
MacKinnon will reunite with childhood idol-turned-good friend Sidney Crosby for Canada. They played together in a best-on-best event for the first time in February at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off.
Canada won the tournament and MacKinnon was named the MVP with four goals in four games. This is the second time they’ve played at the worlds together. They helped Canada win the tournament in 2015.
MacKinnon last played at the worlds in 2017, when he finished second in the tournament with 15 points in 10 games but Canada lost to Landeskog and Sweden in the championship.
This will be the third time Necas has represented Czechia in the tournament, including last season and in 2018 when he was still a teenager who had not made his NHL debut. The Czechs are the defending champions.
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Originally Published: May 7, 2025 at 6:28 PM MDT
