Recapping the 2025 World Junior Hockey Championships
Well that sure was something… The 2025 World Junior Hockey Championships are now in the books, and what a story that entire tournament was. I was extremely lucky to be in attendance for a handful of games and saw quite a few of these rosters in person, and to the folks that introduced themselves, it was a pleasure to meet you and I hope you enjoyed your experience as much as I did. I got to see a New Years Eve game, I confirmed my suspicions that the relegation game is the most underrated game of the tournament, and we were treated to some incredible results as the tournament went on. Latvia beat Canada against all odds, The Finns beat the Americans in the preliminary round, the Kazakhs very nearly shocked the Slovaks, the Latvians won again and very nearly phased Sweden out of existence in the quarterfinals, the Czechs stunned the nation of Canada for the second season in a row, the Finns broke Sweden’s heart brutally, then the Czechs made things even more miserable for them, and we were treated to an all-time classic Gold Medal final. This tournament is such a treat, to the point where it’s become a yearly staple in my non-hockey fan family’s holiday entertainment. The hockey is scrappy and messy, but with incredible talent on display with almost every country. I’m a huge proponent of international inclusion and this Russia/Belarus-free era has been fascinating to see the growth of some of these lower rated nations as they are tested against the world’s best significantly more often. In my view, there is growth coming internationally, and I would love to see this tournament expanded at some point, because for any hockey fan, this tournament is a joy regardless of who is playing. Until then we’re still getting some wonderful matches that always remind me of why I love hockey, especially at this level of play. The world of hockey is diverse and passionate, and to see that on display from numerous countries is so, so much fun.
To recap, we’ll take a look at each individual team with some thoughts I came away with, and hand out my personal awards at the end! Thanks so much for stopping by, and catch us on YouTube for Scouching Live Mondays at 8pm and Thursdays at 2pm! If you’re able, consider subscribing to the site to get some cool perks and data you won’t get anywhere else.
Relegated - Kazakhstan
MVP - Beibarys Orazov (D)
A team I was thrilled to have been given the chance to witness live, the Kazakhs put up a significantly better effort than I and many others expected going into this tournament. Sure, they relinquished 30 goals in the preliminary round, but they pushed the Slovaks to an unexpected overtime loss on the back of two late shorthanded goals. It may have been the most miraculous loss I’ve seen in a long time. I was sitting in the second row for the relegation game against Germany, and similar to last year, this year’s instalment was a doozy. The Kazakhs were clearly outskated by the Germans, but they capitalized on their chances, played physical, selfless hockey and created as many chances as they could. The second most penalized team in the tournament, Kazakhstan paid for it when it mattered most with three goals against in what became a 4-3 loss to Germany. They were up 3-1, and their penalty kill simply couldn’t keep up with the Germans relatively relentless speed. They were a team that participated largely by committee with a handful of players stepping up and earning the bulk of the dangerous play. Kirill Lyupanov and Davlat Nurkenov stood out to me up front, but the responsible and simple defense group was what really stuck out, especially when it came to moving the puck. Beibarys Orazov was a rock as expected, but I came away thoroughly impressed with captain Aslan Zhusupbekov. He wasn’t on the scoresheet whatsoever, but he made simple stick-based defensive plays repeatedly with simple, effective breakout work that explained why he was wearing the C. It was a tough few games for these guys, but they showed well, and while I’m skeptical of seeing them back in 2027, anything is possible and we’ll have to wait and see in a year. I was ready for a shock to the hockey world from the boys in gold and blue, but it was not meant to be, and we’ll see the Danes replace this group next season.
Saved in Relegation - Germany
MVP - Julius Sumpf (C)
Honestly the Germans were the team I saw the least of any team, but having seen them in person, they seemed like a team that was almost there with potential quarterfinal upset candidates like Switzerland or Slovakia. They had names that could really move the puck, names that could play a strong physical game, and while they very nearly got themselves relegated, they also very nearly got themselves into another quarterfinal appearance. Germany is a great example of a team that just goes to show how close this tier of teams that finished from from 5ish to 10 really are these days. They kept their match against Canada close at 3-0 but I do believe people underrated just how quick and physical this group was. I came away quite impressed with the defensive smarts of Norwin Panocha, stymying quite a few difficult rushes, but the name to come away with was Julius Sumpf. I went into the tournament very intrigued by his potential after having seen him drive a ton of pace playing on a line with Caleb Desnoyers in Moncton. He was electric at times with a great combination of size, resilience, and a balance of confidence that anchored this German group well. He may very well be a candidate for the “undrafted World Junior performer who gets a late round NHL draft pick and maybe becomes a thing” award for 2025, and I would potentially be in support of that based on what I saw here and back in Moncton going in. The Germans were the 2nd youngest group here, and 11 of their players can return for 2026, so look for names like Schäfer, Lewandowski, and Händel, to be key players.
Quarterfinal Elimination - Latvia
MVP - Linards Feldbergs (G)
The youngest team in the tournament very quickly became the most notable, as they pulled off a remarkable victory over a Canadian team that struggled to find a way through Latvian mega-goaltender Linards Feldbergs. A 3.13 goals against average seems paltry, but he played every minute for Latvia, and turned away 210 shots in 5 games. He never had a workload lower than 39 shots, and very nearly pulled off a miracle against the Swedes in a 3-2 quarterfinal loss saving 47 of 50. Without him, it’s entirely possible this Latvian group faces relegation against an older Kazakh group, but they were the plucky, physical group many expected going in. Eriks Mateiko was a close runner up for team MVP as he just continuously found ways to get into scoring areas, powering through the competition and scoring 5 of Latvia’s 9 goals. While Latvia has 14 eligible returnees, Mateiko and Feldbergs are not going to be on that list, but their youth did show up well and showed strong flashes. Daniels Serkins was fast, fun and at times reckless, but pushed the puck up the ice well. Olivers Murnieks certainly made an impact and put him on my priority list for next season with the skill and finishing ability he showcased with a level of maturity and work rate not often seen from someone so young. Unfortunately for Latvia, Bruno Osmanis went down with an injury against Germany and didn’t return, but he too made a strong impact working off of the other major players well and definitely putting him on the list for me to circle back on for the 2025 NHL Draft. You can’t fault the Latvian effort whatsoever. They won their third and fourth preliminary round games ever, beating Canada and Germany, and they made a strong push to take out the Swedes much earlier than they’d like. Sure, it wasn’t always pretty and the shot totals reflect that but they were admirable as usual, never backed down to anyone, and gave a strong 60 minutes in every game. For a team this young with some impressive names among those returning, we may see the strongest Latvian result in their history at this tournament in Minnesota next season.
Quarterfinal Elimination - Switzerland
MVP - Kimo Gruber (C)
The Swiss were a team that surprised me somewhat. Largely ruling by committee, they played a fast, pace-y game that drove teams back into their zone often and generated more chances against better teams than I thought they would. They had very little in the way of consistent finishers however, but I liked Leo Braillard’s chances including his pair of goals against Sweden in their bizarre 7-5 loss, clawing back from 7-2 to make things interesting in the final half of the third period. Leon Muggli handed Slovakia a win in regulation quite literally, but I felt he had a solid tournament with his passing work and power play ability that created some necessary offence for the Swiss. Unfortunately the Swiss efforts landed them in the quarterfinals against the future champions from the USA where they were outmatched to say the least. I was thoroughly impressed with Team Scouching member Ludvig Johnson. I didn’t expect him to play as much as he did, being the second youngest defenseman on the roster, but his play on the power play rushing pucks and earning zone transitions as well as his skill level stuck out in almost every game. He earned significantly more minutes than I expected and look forward to his return next year. Jamiro Reber was the player I had my eyes trained on the most, coming back from a very strong first half in the SHL, but he was much more the Reber I remember from last year. Determined, fast, small, and drives play well but does everything but get play into scoring areas. He was largely stuck around the perimeter and while he had his moments, he was a factor into the Swiss’ inconsistency with driving offensive danger game over game. Eric Schneller was a nice surprise for me as well, and seeing what Jonah Neuenschwander was capable of in his limited ice time was interesting, and as a 15 year old, there’s plenty of development there for the future power skill winger.
The upside for the Swiss is that I believe some of their best players are eligible to return next year. Antenen, Muggli, Johnson, Sansonnens, Reber, Steiner, Neuenschwander, Kirsch, all likely coming back, and while my boy Daniil Ustinkov didn’t see the ice at all he’s likely a featured player on the team next year. I have felt Ustinkov hasn’t had quite the same pace and creativity that made him so intriguing last season, but I did think he was good enough in pretournament games to play at least a little bit over some of the other names on the roster. Time will tell, but the future for the Swiss looks somewhat solid, and maybe their first quarterfinal victory since 2019 is in the cards for 2026.
Quarterfinal Elimination - Canada
MVP - Carter George (G)
Ok, so we get to Canada way more than I thought we would be. I remain steadfast that this team was competitive, and they very nearly found their way through the muck into the semifinals, but my words in my preview continue to be true. They were talented, but they got in their own way in about every way imaginable, utilized the wrong players in the wrong roles, were undisciplined, and somehow found ways to lose games they had no business losing. There was a ridiculously panicked response from the public after the loss to Latvia, which while embarrassing, was the second game of four, and licking your wounds, getting to work, and coming together as a group was still more than possible. Did they do anything to achieve that afterwards? It doesn’t really seem so, at least not until it was too late. Yes, you can complain about the refereeing, but look at the US team. Were they in the box? Not nearly as much. The Canadians were the most penalized team in the entire tournament, spending almost 9 minutes per game shorthanded. The Czechs and Kazakhs were the only other teams over 7. That is simply unacceptable and indicative of just how far off Canada’s view of the game seems to be from where others see it today. They played slow, methodical, old school dump and chase hockey from the defense out with a balanced offensive group that had nobody who took the reins consistently. I could excuse leaving names like Yakemchuk, Cristall and Sennecke off the lineup for this tournament based on how you break things down, but on the other side, while there is a chance those players could’ve made a difference, it seemed like no matter what, Canada was in some serious trouble with this management's approach.
I was in person for the Canada/USA New Years Game with my parents. My mother has been to zero hockey games in person for almost my entire life. She leaned over to me during the game and asked questions such as “why is Canada so slow?”, “why would that Canadian guy do that and take a penalty?”, “Is America always this fast?” and plenty more. Every question warrants a 20 minute discussion at least. In my view, the floor of the rest of the world has come up significantly, and simply skating hard and pushing the Canadian team around a little bit seems to be enough to make any game competitive. To me, it is a huge advantage for athletes to have the ability to play top division pro hockey in Europe, a challenge often underrated, then to come back and play junior hockey. For Canadian athletes, they’re taking a much bigger step up in competition by going from a 60 team junior league system with an enormous breadth of talent to playing against kids playing pro hockey games, often for more than a season. I don’t blame the players for this whatsoever, but I’ve said for years that Canadian hockey players are only so dang good at this game because of the pure passion in their hearts for the sports, and the cultural accessibility of playing in an organized league. The developmental systems in place and the thinking from leadership are simply not good enough anymore for tournaments like this. I still believe many of these players will go on to have strong NHL careers over time, but I also believe that Canada is much, much closer to other nations’ best players these days, which often explains why I have some CHL players much lower on my lists than others, and many Europeans on the list that others don’t. It’s a tough position to be in, but a/b’ing the Canadian team to the US was night and day, and there needs to be some reflection.
As a final point, I will say that next season’s Canadian roster has the potential to be fantastic through all of this mess… If they want it to be. McKenna is likely back, they may have Misa, Martone and Schaefer on the roster, strong performer this year Berkly Catton is a likely returnee, and my personal MVP Carter George is also a returnee. Parekh, Iginla, and Sennecke, all ideally there as well, but 2025 prospects like Roger McQueen, Lynden Lakovic, Jackson Smith, Carter Bear and more could be strong options. Other countries like Finland and the US might be on a bit of a downslope considering what I’ve seen at younger age groups, but that’s no guarantee of anything whatsoever, especially at this tournament. Time will tell, but you have to hope that there is change from the top down, and a faith that the most skilled and talented players in the nation will find a way to come together, fill the gaps that may be there, and truly showcase the best that Canada has to offer.
Quarterfinal Elimination - Slovakia
MVP - Dalibor Dvorský (C)
A team that seemed perfectly fine, but not particularly “good”, the Slovaks were a team that trundled through the preliminary round with zero lopsided losses but zero losses where they really seemed to seriously keep things close. The win over Kazakhstan was barely earned, and their 2-1 victory over the offensively limited Swiss team kept them in a quarterfinal slot eventually losing to the silver medalists from Finland. I’m not really sure what else to say about the Slovaks, as they were quite quiet as a whole, but played a team-first game with plenty of players chipping in, usually just doing whatever it took to get the puck into the hands of Dalibor Dvorsky or Juraj Pekarcik, both of whom had quite strong showings. Dvorsky filled in the Kazakhs a bit, but his combination of strength and finishing ability were on display, and with a better supporting cast, who knows if this team could’ve pulled off a win over the Finns. Unfortunately, Dvorsky isn’t coming back, but it isn’t all lost for 2026. Tobias Tomik, Jan Chovan, and Luka Radivojevic are all certain to be back and performed solidly well in Ottawa. Names like Michal Svrcek, Tomas Chrenko, Jakub Dubravik and Adam Nemec likely on the roster should add some needed firepower for the Slovaks that might be able to make them more of a balanced threat than they were this season. It might be difficult, but they might be able to surprise quite a few.
4th Place - Sweden
MVP - Axel Sandin-Pellikka (D)
I really enjoyed watching this year’s Swedish group and felt they deserved a better fate. A heartbreaking overtime loss to the Finns put them on their back foot against the Czechs, and the offense just couldn’t find a way through Michal Hrabal, with an immense shootout not going their way. There was a huge part of me that wanted to put Tom Willander as my MVP for this team with his ability to quarterback rushes and help Sandin-Pellikka create offense, but it’s hard to argue against the offensive output and creative pass vision that Sandin-Pellikka brought every single game. This team was no joke, and I felt that Otto Stenberg, Anton Wahlberg, David Edstrom, Herman Traff, Felix Nilsson and Zeb Forsfjall were also strong performers supplementing that top pair. Victor Eklund, my #5 ranked prospect going into the World Juniors had a bit of a coming out party for many, and he was better than I expected, playing a strong two-way impact game that chipped in everywhere and finding himself among the top level of Swedish talent on this roster. I thought he was simply excellent, especially after seeing him live in their loss to Finland.
The Swedes are likely to look significantly different next year with just four eligible returnees, but there is a solid group of 2007-born Swedes that could find themselves on the team next year, with some impressive 2006-born players that could also find themselves in Minnesota. Are they going to be as good as this season’s group? I wouldn’t jump to that conclusion right now, and the goaltending is likely to be a question mark, but they should be able to make a strong impact as they did this year. It was another tough result for the Swedes, and I have plenty of empathy for the eventual result, but we saw plenty of good output from these fellas and I hope to see many of them in NHL jerseys at some point in the future.
Bronze Medal - Czechia
MVP - Eduard Sale (RW)
Never, ever, ever count out a bunch of Czechs when it comes to hockey. Ever. They broke the soul of the entire nation of Canada for the second year in a row, put up a valiant effort against a very strong group of Americans, and battled their way to a bronze medal through the talented Swedish group. I came into this tournament with the belief that outside of Canada, many, many teams were quite evenly matched and who comes out on top could’ve been a toss-up, and in a sense it was. This is the Czechs third medal in a row, something they have never achieved at this tournament. They are a scrappy, physical group who capitalizes on mistakes and takes the chances they get, keeping their game simple and calculated, and while they may not have gotten here had a coin flip gone another way here and there, they got here and earned it, and in my opinion did it by committee. Jakub Stancl scored a ton of goals, but the group as a whole all chipped in with very good performances. I was thrilled to see Adam Jiricek in this tournament and I felt for a player who has played 6 games this season, he performed very well, tying the team in defensive scoring. Team Scouching seletion Tomas Galvas was also a strong performer to me in many areas of the game, giving me more confidence relative to what I’ve seen of him in the Extraliga to this point.
It’s impossible not to hand the MVP of the team to Eduard Sale though. I’ve questioned his NHL upside in the past but you simply cannot deny how important he was to this roster at this level. He was creative in his scoring attempts, was a shootout hero, and was the beating heart of this group offensively. In his last World Junior, he cemented himself as one of the great Czechs at this level and likely goes back to the AHL with a huge boost of confidence. He’s smart, creative, and can clearly perform under pressure, and I came away thrilled to see what he was capable of while captaining this team. I also expect the Czechs to have another strong roster with Galvas, Kos, Jecho, Jiricek, Fibigr, Cihar, and Novotny all likely returning, and some impressive young players they could lean on to earn another good result next season. They were a tremendous team to watch in the truest definition of the word team. They played hard, stood down from nobody, and earned the medal they went home with. How can you not love that?
Silver Medal - Finland
MVP - Petteri Rimpinen (G)
I said before the tournament to not count out the Finns, even if I’m a bit skeptical of the trajectory of this nation in the next few years at this level. That said, it turned out to be not entirely for the reason I expected. Petteri Rimpinen was the star of the show with some serious heroics when called upon, putting aside 36 of 40 in the gold medal game against the USA, 43 of 46 to get into that game, and only facing fewer than 30 shots one time against Latvia. He was simply excellent, even in Finland’s most lopsided loss to Canada as his team seemed to have no legs in front of him, but managing to put aside 37 of 40. He certainly earned himself another look from NHL scouts in my eyes, and we’ll have to see if he hears his name called in Los Angeles in June.
On the note of Finland not having legs against Canada, after that game in my opinion, they did what Canada couldn’t seem to do: Get frickin’ moving. The Finns from their game against Germany onwards were simply unrecognizable and the most improved team over the tournament by far. They took out the Americans in the preliminary round and had them against the ropes in the Gold Medal Game. They were the epitome of ruling by committee, as I felt that nobody truly stood out offensively or defensively for the group, but they came together and everyone certainly had their moments. Topias Hynninen got better and better the more I saw him, being an excellent complimentary forward by the time the tournament was over. Konsta Helenius was an excellent play driver and line manager moving the puck extremely reliably as well. Unexpectedly, I felt Arttu Alasiurua and Tuomas Uronen were excellent for this group as well driving play with speed and pace that much of the roster lacked somewhat. This may be the last gasp of the big, physical and complimentary brand of Finnish hockey however as the younger age groups trend smaller and have been less than stellar internationally, but the returning group of Miettinen, Kiviharju, Vaisanen, Nieminen, Helenius, Hemming and of course Rimpinen among others should be more than enough to be impactful next season as well. I already can’t wait to see what kind of a revenge tour we see from this team, and I was thrilled to see that team come as far as they did over this tournament.
Gold Medal - United States
MVP - Ryan Leonard (RW)
I continuously have such admiration for the lengths that USA Hockey has taken over the course of my lifetime. This team was simply stellar almost from wire to wire. They got great performances from so many players, and while Ryan Leonard is my MVP and the actual MVP of the tournament, this group was just a joy to watch from top to bottom. Strong, simple, stable defending from their giants in front of Trey Augustine, responsible for putting the puck in the hands of any number of forwards or Cole Hutson or Zeev Buium, they provided a strong foundation to build off of. Up front, all bets were off. I felt Oliver Moore was an excellent two-way presence for the Americans with dangerous forechecking and playmaking on display. Danny Nelson was a seriously impressive player as well, coming a ways with his skating from what I remember and begin a boulder on the puck. James Hagens showcased that he deserves to be in the conversation for #1 pick overall this season with his brilliant playmaking and remarkable finishing ability. Teddy Stiga went from healthy scratch to Gold Medal winning hero, and having seen the US multiple times in person, I felt he was one of the most useful players down the lineup that simply elevates everyone else. Taking one shot in 6 games might not sound impressive, and setting aside that one shot being the Gold Medal winning goal, I felt he added plenty to the game elsewhere that I simply cannot bet against as an evaluator. Brandon Svoboda and David Carle make a great pair as well, as I felt his speed and power was utilized brilliantly, something I always felt was there when catching him with the Youngstown Phantoms.
Yes, Ryan Leonard wins my MVP, but this was close for me. He was simply a dog every single game. Powerful, intense, a wicked finisher, and clearly the spiritual backbone of the team, he was making his presence felt every single game, even if he found himself in undisciplined penalty scenarios here and there. That said, my goodness were Cole Hutson and Zeev Buium amazing here. Hutson is almost certainly coming back next season in my view, and he should be stellar. He was dynamic, shifty, and my notes from him last year being potentially more projectable than his brother, but without the same offensive upside are still fair in my view, but he just went out there and moved the puck, moved himself, and moved opponents around spectacularly. Wonderful footwork, creative routes in multiple areas of the ice, his game has come a significant ways since I first saw him a few years back. Zeev Buium was sublime as well. Silly levels of creativity, scary levels of offense, and a more refined defensive game were highlights of his performance. He was simply excellent on so many occasions, and without him and Hutson, I really don’t believe names like Perreault, Leonard, Eiserman and Ziemer have the success they had. Buium was #5 on my list last season and this tournament showcased why. I love him, he made me proud, and came home with the best hardware you could get.
The Americans likely come back again next year just as scary. I’m not sure it’s 100% that James Hagens won’t be here next year, but even if he’s NHL-bound, Cole Hutson, Cole Eiserman, Trevor Connelly, Teddy Stiga, Logan Hensler, and Brodie Ziemer are all likely returnees, with plenty of talent to choose from to bring along next year, the Americans should have another strong roster. They earned this Gold Medal through and through. They were on the ropes a bit at the end there, but they found a way to push the frustration aside and get themselves back into the game, grinding out a thrilling victory. They play fast, they play skilled, they play with many offensive options including confident skilled defenders, and they keep the game simple. It’s wonderful to watch, and their first repeat gold medal victories were well earned by this generation of players, so congratulations to them and USA Hockey.
Will’s All-Star Team
Eriks Mateiko (LAT) - James Hagens (USA) - Ryan Leonard (USA)
Zeev Buium (USA) - Cole Hutson (USA)
Petteri Rimpinen (FIN)
MVP: Cole Hutson (USA)
”Who Dat” Player of the Tournament: Linards Feldbergs (LAT)
Biggest Surprise Performance: Danny Nelson (USA)
