GDT: Discussion: 2025 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (Ottawa, Ontario)

[Nogatco Rd]

What a time to be alive

 

[GoCaps2004]

He's 19, he'll get there.

I think he will too. Reminds me a bit of Willy. Willy has definitely gotten better with this as he’s grown

 

[Lou Sassole]

Sikora looks to be a pain in the ass to play against.

I love the cut of his jib, he seems like a total dirtbag on the ice(which i love), with enough skill to play up and down the lineup. He and Leonard are really gonna be popular with the opposition fans.

 

[Empty Goal Net]

Also I do think Buium is going to be a great NHL player. At times when I see him I have that thought that he has talent that you can’t just teach.

He's got some great moves. I do wonder, however, how he'll perform against older, more experienced players who've seen those before. No doubt he'll get better and adjust; we'll see how it plays out.

 

[895]

What’s Leonard’s ceiling? He plays much bigger than 6’0” but in the NHL he’s just average sized. I don’t see the elite hand eye coordination Oshie had or the size of a Kreider. It’s going to come down to his hockey IQ I think.

 

[qc14]

What’s Leonard’s ceiling? He plays much bigger than 6’0” but in the NHL he’s just average sized. I don’t see the elite hand eye coordination Oshie had or the size of a Kreider. It’s going to come down to his hockey IQ I think.

I know this comparison has been played to death but I really do think a reasonable best-case scenario is a slightly smaller Brady Tkachuk. It's definitely not perfect -- I don't think he has quite the level of pure goal scoring that Brady does but maybe has a bit more playmaking. Overall though they're both top line wingers who maybe don't have one defined stand out skill but just do a lot of things really well and have some underrated hockey IQ while also being annoying as shit to play against.

For a more middle of the pack comp I think of Connor Garland a lot too.

 

[stephenball]

He's got some great moves. I do wonder, however, how he'll perform against older, more experienced players who've seen those before. No doubt he'll get better and adjust; we'll see how it plays out.

I think there’s something to be said about pulling off moves on opponents you know you can pull them off against.

 

[Langway]

How Capitals prospect Cole Hutson is developing into a top-end playmaker

Cole Hutson has been one of the top defenders at the World Junior Championships. David St-Louis goes into the lab to look at why.

www.eliteprospects.com

A bigger Travis Konecny seems closer for Leonard than a Tkachuk I think. He doesn't have that sort of ideal size to body the opposition and be a bowling ball. Probably closer to a Dustin Brown at best physically and I'm not sure for his sake whether he should look to play quite that physical. It will be part of his arsenal, part of his leadership and engagement as a player. But I do wonder about durability. He's young and will learn to be more strategic about it but he does get caught up in a lot out there. He gets it as good as he gives it and that's just at lower levels. Part of it's agitating and likely also embellishing to draw calls but either way that aspect of his game will probably need the most maturing. It also should be a relatively easy fix in what should be a fairly simple transition.

He's got more playmaking than Brown but it'll also depend somewhat on linemates and usage. Looking forward a bit could they be thinking Leonard and McMichael could work well together anchoring a third line in the spring? Down the road, though, you've got to think he's got most everything they want at 1RW with Ovechkin & Strome.

 

[qc14]

A bigger Travis Konecny seems closer for Leonard than a Tkachuk I think.

Yea Konecny is a great one that I'm not sure how I missed

 

[Silky mitts]

Ross Mahoney pregame speech to Lenny and Hutson

 

[John Price]

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

Feels good to have a strong Washington Capitals/Team USA connection again. JC74 was a hero for the US at the WJC during his day and then of course there was TJ Soshi. Leonard was a dawg last year as well for the US but having two of their top three players feels good man.

 

[Melkor]

How Capitals prospect Cole Hutson is developing into a top-end playmaker

Cole Hutson has been one of the top defenders at the World Junior Championships. David St-Louis goes into the lab to look at why.

www.eliteprospects.com

A bigger Travis Konecny

The best comparison for Leonard I've seen on the boards. Like they even look similar, facewise and everything.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Lets finish this out with a W. Can we go live again?

for those without the network google onhockey tv

 

[stephenball]

Wanted to see Sikora win it in the shootout just for the laughs, but I think the coach may have benched him in the shootout for trying to be a bit too cute in his first attempt haha.

 

[Holtbyisms]

Lets finish this out with a W. Can we go live again?

for those without the network google onhockey tv

HEB Sports on YouTube is a nice place.

 

[Blades Ov Steel]

here we go!

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

Let’s go USA!

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Finland has pretty much dominated play so far

And we down 1-0 now

 

[Blades Ov Steel]

he had all day in the slot there

 

[Holtbyisms]

US looks like shit so far. They better wake up before it gets too far out of reach. Fins good at locking a lead down.

 

[Blades Ov Steel]

USA trying to be too cute, shoot the f***ing puck

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

We are getting boat roped. This is bad.

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

The box really fell apart on that PK.

USA needs a time out

 

[Langway]

Haagen Dazs it. </sendpost>