HELENIUS, WAHLBERG ASSIGNED TO NATIONAL JUNIOR TEAMS FOR 2025 IIHF WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

Dec 23, 2024

The Buffalo Sabres have reassigned Rochester Americans forwards Konsta Helenius (Finland) and Anton Wahlberg (Sweden) to their respective national junior teams for the upcoming 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship. The 10-day annual international event begins on Thursday, Dec. 26 and will end with the gold medal game on Sunday, Jan. 5 in Ottawa, Ontario.

 

The 2025 tournament will be the second straight appearance and fifth international event overall for Helenius, who was Buffalo’s first-round selection (14^th overall) in last year’s NHL Draft.

 

He finished the 2024 event with a goal and an assist in seven games while leading Finland to a fourth-place finish. He also notched one assist in four games while competing for Finland at the 2024 World Championship as the youngest player in the tournament. In 2017, he helped the Finns win a bronze medal at the U-17 Hockey Challenge after finishing with a team-high 11 points (2+9) in seven games.

 

In 28 games this season with the Amerks, Helenius ranks fifth on the team in scoring and tied for 14^th amongst all AHL rookies with 17 points. He’s also tied for 14^th among all first-year skaters with 11 assists, four of which have come on the power-play.

 

A native of Ylojarvi, Finland, Helenius made his AHL debut on Oct. 11 against Belleville and opened the month of November with a goal in four straight games. He also recently had a four-game assist streak, in which he totaled six assists over that span, including multi-assist efforts in back-to-back games.

 

Wahlberg, too, makes his second straight appearance at the annual event and fourth overall with Sweden. Wahlberg has medaled in every international event in which he’s represented Sweden, including winning a silver medal at last year’s tournament after recording three points (1+2) in seven games.

 

Wahlberg, who also won a silver medal at the 2023 U-18 IIHF World Championship and bronze at the 2022 World Junior Challenge, ranks second in Amerks rookie scoring behind Helenius with 10 points (4+6) in 25 games this season. A second-round pick (39^th overall) of the Sabres in 2023, Wahlberg joined Rochester for nine games at the end of the 2023-24 campaign, recording four points (1+3), including a goal and two assists through his first four AHL games.

 

A native of Malmo, Sweden, Wahlberg added a goal while appearing in all five games of the Amerks’ first-round playoff series against Syracuse.