The 04 age group indeed isn't great but it also doesn't help that Joakim Kemell's been practically invisible. When considering how he's played the full season in Liiga with quite a strong scoreline he should be a more impactful player than the Swedish top line for example, but that of course was not even close to being the case. Indeed, Halttunen has been the best, outside of him there just have been some flashes here and there.
Most of the time it's the "4th line grinder"-type play style after receiving the pack, just dump it in and try to battle hard for it. Most of the forwards seem to seriously struggle with stringing a couple of passes together. It also doesn't help that the coaching system seems practically nonexistent and the players are just doing whatever.
As for Finland vs Canada, we have to remember Czechia probably is a stronger team than Sweden, who even lost to Latvia and even vs Finland wasn't that amazing considering how mediocre Finland played. USA of course defeated Finland 6-1 before the tournament and I have no doubt it would go at least as poorly if we played USA again. As such, Canada losing to Czechia doesn't exactly make Finland a favorite against Canada. Canada has a very clear talent advantage when it comes to forwards, and Finland has only had one good defensive pairing. Canada's coaching has been terrible but so has Finland's.
I still am happy Finland plays vs Canada, though, because I get to enjoy TSN commentary. Even if it's the last game Finland plays.