Penguins Star Rickard Rakell Makes the Most Important Announcement of His Life

The Pittsburgh Penguins had only a few shining lights during the 2024/25 campaign, but one of those was veteran forward Rickard Rakell, who had a career year, tallying 35 goals and 70 points in a campaign that has him and the Penguins immensely excited for the future.

Many expected him to parlay a successful campaign into a spot with Team Sweden at the 2025 IIHF World Championships, but that's now not expected to come to fruition after the 31-year old made an incredible announcement.

According to Rakell, he and his partner are expecting another child, and given the timeline of that, he has revealed that he likely wouldn't be able to comfortably get over to Sweden/Denmark for the tournament.

That's incredible news for the 31-year old veteran, who shows that there's more to life than hockey as he prioritized his family over anything this off-season, but if he can replicate his 2024/25 success next year, he's very likely to be a part of the Swedish Olympic squad.

For now however, Rakell is simply focusing on his partner and his family as they look to welcome the birth of their second child, and even if things go perfectly (which they hopefully do), it makes sense to skip the 2025 IIHF World Championships and come back bigger and better next season for Pittsburgh and for Sweden at the 2026 Olympic Games.