MANNHEIM – The Swedish Ice Hockey Association announced that Mikael Backlund will join the national team in Mannheim today. He will be registered as one of two additional players for the 2010 IIHF World Championship.

The 21-year-old centre will play his first World Championship in the men’s category. He was part of the teams that won the silver medals in the 2008 and 2009 World U20 Championships, having summed up eight goals and six assists in 12 games.

A first-round pick by the Calgary Flames, Backlund had 23 NHL games (1 goal, 9 assists) with the Flames and 66 AHL games (16 goals, 25 assists) for the Abbotsford Heat this season.

The Swedes hope that he can already play in tonight’s game against Latvia.