Team USA Adds Kevin Hayes and Matthew Kessel to IIHF World Championship Roster for 2024

The 2024 IIHF World Championship is set to take place from May 10-26 in Prague and Ostrava, Czechia. Today, USA Hockey announced that Kevin Hayes and Matthew Kessel from the St. Louis Blues will be joining Team USA’s roster for the championship.

Hayes, who hails from Dorchester, Massachusetts, has previously represented Team USA at the World Championship in 2014 and 2017. Last season, he recorded 29 points in his first year with the Blues, including 13 goals and 16 assists, along with 12 penalty minutes in 79 regular-season games. He has played a total of 10 NHL seasons and has accumulated an impressive career total of 415 points in 713 regular-season games.

Kessel, a native of Scottsdale, Arizona, will be making his debut appearance for Team USA at the championship. During his rookie season with the Blues last year, he posted seven points with one goal, six assists and 12 penalty minutes in just 39 regular-season games. Additionally, he was also productive with the Blues’ AHL affiliate Springfield Thunderbirds where he tallied eight points including three goals and five assists while accumulating just two penalty minutes in only nine regular-season games. Kessel was drafted by the Blues in the fifth round of the NHL Draft in