Crosby, MacKinnon highlight top 10 NHLers to watch at 2025 IIHF World Championship

May 8, 2025, 09:00 EDT

Crosby, MacKinnon highlight top 10 NHLers to watch at 2025 IIHF World Championship

Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

If you don’t typically pay much attention to the IIHF men’s World Championship, it’s time to change that this year.

Sidney Crosby. Nathan MacKinnon. David Pastrňák. You name it. There’s plenty of star power to go around, and there’s more to come as players join their teams late after seeing their NHL seasons come to an end.

The 16-team event – taking place in Sweden and Denmark this year – is the biggest field you’ll find in an international competition. It might not be best-on-best, but it’s the one where anything can happen – whether it be a miracle run like we saw from Latvia in 2023, or when Canada lost to Norway days before winning gold.

This is a hockey fan’s dream. And if you live in North America, you can combine this with the Stanley Cup Playoffs for an all-day hockey affair. If your job doesn’t care that you’re watching sports, it’s great!

Canada and Sweden enter as two of the top teams to watch, while Czechia will look to defend gold. But, again, anything can happen, and that’s what makes it so much fun.

While we wait for more roster additions, here’s a look at 10 NHLers worth keeping an eye on as the tournament rolls on from May 9-25:

Sidney Crosby, C, Canada (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Now THIS was the big fish. The two-time Olympic champion has represented Canada twice at the World Championship, leading the tournament in scoring in 2006 before winning gold in 2015. Now, a decade later, he’s back to show why he’s still one of the NHL’s most elite forces. Crosby came up clutch again during the 4 Nations Face-Off and will be leaned on once more to lead an offensive group that isn’t particularly deep. And the best part? He gets to reunite with his fellow Timbit enthusiast…

Nathan MacKinnon, C, Canada (Colorado Avalanche)

… Nate Dogg! MacKinnon makes his World Championship return after registering 15 points in 2017. It was his second medal with Canada’s men’s team, having also played alongside Crosby in 2015. Since then, MacKinnon has won the Stanley Cup and Hart Trophy and was named 4 Nations MVP this past winter. MacKinnon is truly one of the game’s elite talents, having registered at least 100 points in each of the past three seasons. Watching him join Canada to take on teams like France, Latvia, Slovenia and Austria? That’s going to be wild.

Macklin Celebrini, C, Canada (San Jose Sharks)

Celebrini had a monster pre-tournament, highlighted by a four-point game against Hungary. Sure, it was against weaker competition, but Celebrini looked so much better than just about any forward out there. The Sharks’ No. 1 center is so skilled with the puck, and tried to show it off by nearly scoring one of the coolest goals of the year. Celebrini will have the heat taken off him thanks to Crosby and MacKinnon, and that should allow Celebrini to flourish. Don’t be surprised if this is the tournament that helps more people appreciate what Celebrini is capable of.

David Pastrňák, RW, Czechia (Boston Bruins)

Pastrňák only had one goal at the tournament a year ago – it just happened to be the one that secured gold. Last year, he was flown in for the second half of the tourney and didn’t get a chance to feel fully at home. This time, he’s looking to go back-to-back, and he’ll be there for the long haul. Pasta is one of the top goal-scorers in the world, and he’s coming off a good year on a brutal team. The Czechs don’t have a ton of firepower, but he and Roman Cervenka have been good together, and Martin Necas is no slouch, either. Don’t be surprised if Pastrňák wins the scoring race.

Moritz Seider, D, Germany (Detroit Red Wings)

Seider hasn’t had the opportunity to play a playoff game for the Red Wings, but he’s been absolutely terrific for the Germans when it matters. He was voted top defenseman at the 2021 tournament and was named to the tournament all-star team in 2023 en route to a silver medal. Seider is a do-it-all defender on a German team with very little NHL experience. That means he’ll get a boatload of ice time, and he’ll be ready for the task. The Germans look more like a midpack team this year, but Seider gives them a ton of legitimacy on the backend.

Jacob Markstrom, G, Sweden (Calgary Flames)

Markstrom missed out on his opportunity to lead Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off. So he’ll happily take the challenge of leading the home team to gold after the monster playoff round he just had. It was short-lived, but his advanced analytics were the best of any goalie in the opening matchups. It helped erase doubt after a rough end to the regular season after coming back from an injury after the 4 Nations tournament. At his best, Markstrom is an absolute beast who can win games on his own. He likely won’t need to do that for Sweden, but he’ll want to channel some Henrik Lundqvist-level of supremacy to win gold on home ice.

Lucas Raymond, RW, Sweden (Detroit Red Wings)

Raymond always comes swinging when he plays internationally. he has 17 points in 18 games over the past two tournaments, and he had a point-per-game at the 4 Nations Face-Off, as well. Raymond really came into his own this year, cracking both 50 assists and 80 points for the first time in his career. The 23-year-old winger has been a bright spot on a Red Wings’ team that has needed one the past few years and will be leaned on to be a big-time offensive contributor at the World Championship.

Nico Hischier, C, Switzerland (New Jersey Devils)

It’s always a good day when Hischier is playing for Switzerland. He was one of the primary reasons why the team nearly won gold last year, registering 11 points in 10 games en route to a silver. He has 37 points in 38 games over seven tournaments in his career, doing a lot of damage on the power play, in particular. He had a nice 69-point season for the Devils this year, helping to fill a bit of the gap lost when Jack Hughes went down with an injury. Switzerland’s men’s team typically does pretty well, usually because Hischier steps up big. Without Roman Josi on the point, though, Hischier must be a bit extra special.

Tage Thompson, C/RW, USA (Buffalo Sabres)

Thompson is no stranger to this tournament, having played in it twice. But that was prior to the 2021-22 glow-up that transformed Thompson into one of the NHL’s most feared power forwards. The 6-foot-6 sniper was the Sabres’ lone 40-goal scorer this season, notching the second-highest total of his career at 44. With the extra open space to work with, Thompson should be able to cause some serious damage in the offensive zone. He’s already off to a good start, having scored twice against Germany in a 5-2 pre-tournament victory. Hopefully for Sabres fans, Thompson doesn’t have a reason to return to the World’ soon enough.

Zach Werenski, D, USA (Columbus Blue Jackets)

This was a huge addition to the American lineup. The Blue Jackets blueliner was one of USA’s top players en route to a second-place finish at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Werenski was recently voted as a finalist for the 2025 Norris Trophy as the league’s top blueliner. Werenski became the first Blue Jackets defenseman in history to lead the team in points, notching 23 goals and 59 assists for 82 points. He ranked second among NHL defensemen in goals and points, was fourth in assists and led all NHL players in average ice time. Werenski has also represented USA twice at the World Championship, which included a seven-point run in eight games a year ago. Look for Werenski to continue to prove why he’s one of the NHL’s top defensemen.

Other notables: MacKenzie Weegar, D (Calgary Flames); Travis Konecny, LW, Canada (Philadelphia Flyers); Martin Necas, RW, Czechia (Colorado Avalanche); Juuse Saros, G, Finland (Nashville Predators); Timo Meier, RW, Switzerland (New Jersey Devils); Clayton Keller, RW, USA (Utah Mammoth)

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