Sweden WJC champs aiming for more gold

The two best European forwards eligible for the 2012 NHL Draft will look to add to their gold-medal collection when they take the ice for the IIHF World Under-18 Championship.

Forwards Filip Forsberg and Sebastian Collberg were part of the Sweden team that won the gold at the World Junior Championship in January. They were part of the preliminary roster Sweden submitted for the World U-18s, which will be held April 12-22, in Brno and Znojmo, Czech Republic.

Forsberg, a 6-foot-2, 181-pound center, was rated by NHL Central Scouting as the No. 1 European player available for this year's draft. He had 8 goals and 9 assists in 43 games with Leksand in the Swedish second division this season. He had an assist in six games for Sweden at the WJC.

Collberg, a 5-11, 176-pound right wing, was scoreless in 41 games with Frolunda in the Swedish Elite League, after totaling 9 goals and 8 assists in 21 games with Frolunda's junior team. At the WJC, he was second on the team with 4 goals and 7 points.

Two players who earned silver medals at the 2012 WJC also could be part of the tournament. Center Mikhail Grigorenko and goaltender Andrei Vasilevski were part of the preliminary roster submitted for the event by Russia.

Vasilevski led the tournament with a .953 save percentage and two shutouts. The 6-3, 204-pound goalie is ranked by No. 1 among European netminders by NHL Central Scouting. In 27 games with Ufa in the Russian minor leagues, Vasilevski had a 2.23 goals-against average and .931 save percentage.

Grigorenko is on the roster, but only will be eligible if his Quebec Remparts team loses in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs. The Remparts lead Drummondville 2-0 in their best-of-7 first-round series.

Grigorenko, No. 2 on Central Scouting's ranking of the top North American skaters available for this year's draft, led all first-year players in the league with 40 goals and 85 points. The 6-3, 200-pound center has 1 goal and 3 assists in two playoff games, and had 2 goals and 3 assists in six games at the WJC.

PRELIMINARY ROSTER

SWEDEN

Goalies -- Oscar Dansk (Brynas Jr., Sweden Jr.), *Marcus Hogberg (Linkoping Jr., Sweden Jr.), *Ebbe Sionas (AIK Jr., Sweden Jr.).

Defensemen -- Calle Andersson (Farjestad Jr., Sweden Jr.), *Linus Arnesson (Djurgarden Jr., Sweden Jr.), Ludwig Bystrom (Modo Jr., Sweden Jr.), Christian Djoos (Brynas Jr., Sweden Jr.), Simon Fernholm (Huddinge Jr., Sweden Jr.), *Robert Hagg (Modo Jr., Sweden Jr.), Hampus Lindholm (Rogle Jr., Sweden Jr.), Mattias Nilsson (Leksand Jr., Sweden Jr.), Jesper Pettersson (Linkoping Jr., Sweden Jr.).

Forwards -- Anton Brehmer (Linkoping Jr., Sweden Jr.), *Andre Burakowsky (Malmo Jr., Sweden Jr.), Sebastian Collberg (Frolunda, Sweden), *Jacob de la Rose (Leksand Jr., Sweden Jr.), Filip Forsberg (Leksand, Sweden-2), Mattias Kalin (Djurgarden Jr., Sweden Jr.), Erik Karlsson (Frolunda Jr., Sweden Jr.), *Elias Lindholm (Brynas Jr., Sweden Jr.), Ludvig Nilsson (Timra Jr., Sweden Jr.), *Gustav Possler (Modo Jr., Sweden Jr.), Filip Sandberg (HV 71 Jr., Sweden Jr.), *Robin Soderquist (Frolunda Jr., Sweden Jr.), Tobias Tornkvist (Rogle Jr., Sweden Jr.), *Lucas Wallmark (Skelleftea Jr., Sweden Jr.), *Alexander Wennberg (Djurgarden Jr., Sweden Jr.).

RUSSIA

Goalies -- Ivan Nalimov (Novokuznetsk 2, Russia Jr.), Igor Ustinsky (Tyumen 2, Russia Jr.), Andrei Vasilevski (Ufa 2, Russia Jr.).

Defensemen -- Alexei Bereglazov (Magnitogorsk 2, Russia Jr.), Andrei Ermakov (Spartak 2, Russia Jr.), Damir Galin (Kazan 2, Russia Jr.), Stanislav Gareev (Ufa 2, Russia Jr.), Yuri Kozlovsky (Spartak 2, Russian Jr.), Nikita Lisov (CSKA 2, Russia Jr.), Egor Malenkikh (St. Petersburg 2, Russia Jr.), Kirill Maslov (MVD Balashikha 2, Russia Jr.), Andrei Mironov (MVD Balashikha 2, Russia Jr.), *Nikita Zadorov (CSKA 2, Russia Jr.).

Forwards -- Leonid Avtomov (St. Petersburg 2, Russia Jr.), Alexandr Barabanov (St. Petersburg 2, Russia Jr.), Alexander Delnov (Mytischi 2, Russia Jr.), Alexei Filippov (Chelyabinsk 2, Russia Jr.), Mikhail Grigorenko (Quebec, QMJHL), Anton Ivanyuzhenkov (Chekhov 2, Russia Jr.), Denis Kamaev (Rouyn-Noranda, QMJHL), Arseni Khatsei (Spartak 2, Russia Jr.), Viktor Komarov (Chelyabinsk 2, Russia Jr.), *Sergei Kuptsov (Mississauga St. Michaels, OHL), Alexandr Lebedev (Yaroslavl 2, Russia Jr.), *Valeri Nichushkin (Chelyabinsk 2, Russia Jr.), Vyacheslav Osnovin (Chelyabinsk 2, Russia Jr.), Anton Slepyshev (Novokuznetsk, KHL), Alexandr Timirev (CSKA 2, Russia Jr.), *Sergei Tolchinski (CSKA 2, Russia Jr.), *Bogdan Yakimov (Nizhnekamsk 2, Russia Jr.), Ilya Yamkin (Nizhny Novgorod 2, Russia Jr.), Daniil Zharkov (Belleville, OHL).

*- indicates eligibility for 2013 NHL Draft

Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK