Freshman Tom Willander of the Boston University men's ice hockey team has been named to Sweden's 23-player roster for the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, as announced on Wednesday.

Willander will skate for the host country in this year's tournament that is scheduled to take place Dec. 26, 2023 – Jan. 5, 2024, in Gothenburg, Sweden. The dynamic defenseman is no stranger to the international stage, having won silver with Sweden at the 2023 IIHF World Under-18 Championship. He led all defensemen in the tournament with three goals and was third among all blue liners with eight points.
 
A native of Stockholm, Willander has already made an impact for the Terriers 15 games into his collegiate career. The league leader in plus-minus (+13), Willander is second among BU blue liners with eight points on three goals and five assists. Selected 11th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2023 NHL Draft, Willander recorded his first two collegiate points with a goal and an assist in his Terrier debut at New Hampshire on Oct. 13. He tallied a career-best two assists in a 6-1 victory over UMass Lowell on Nov. 11 and notched two points (1g, 1a) in a weekend sweep of then-No. 9 Maine on Nov. 17-18. Willander also lit the lamp in this past Saturday's 5-2 victory over Merrimack.