Forsberg, Ekholm, Hertl to compete at Worlds

Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg and defenseman Mattias Ekholm will play for Sweden at the 2015 IIHF World Championship, the IIHF announced Thursday via Twitter.

San Jose Sharks forward Tomas Hertl will also compete for the host Czech Republic in the tournament, to be held May 1-17 in Ostrava and Prague.

Forsberg scored 26 goals and 63 points in 82 games of his rookie season, and added a hat trick in Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Predators lost the best-of-7 series in six games.

Ekholm had seven goals, 18 points and a plus-12 rating in 80 regular-season games.

Hertl scored 13 goals and 31 points in 82 games. The second-year player was seventh on the Sharks in points and second with four game-winning goals.

The Czech Republic opens its schedule May 1 against Sweden.