U18 WJC Thread

[Dead Coyote]

The U18 WJC tournament just started today with Slovakia and Finland.

Notable 2025 draft eligibles:

Cameron Schmidt (CAN)
Brady Martin (CAN)
Matthew Gard (CAN)
Ethan Czata (CAN)
Braeden Cootes (CAN)
Jackson Smith (CAN)
Alex Huang (CAN)
Jack Ivankovic (CAN)
Lucas Beckman (CAN)
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Tomas Poletin (Czechia)
Matej Pekar (Czechia)
Adam Benak (Czechia)
Vojtech Cihar (Czechia)
Max Psenicka (Czechia)
Ondrej Stebetak (Czechia)
Michal Orsulak (Czechia)
Radim Mrtka (Czechia)
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Patrik Kerkola (Finland)
Lasse Boelius (Finland)
Jesper Kotajarvi (Finland)
Jasu Mensonen (Finland)
Eetu Orpana (Finland)
Jere Somervuori (Finland)
Matias Vanhanen (Finland)
Max Westergard (Finland)
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Carlos Handel (Germany)
David Lewandowski (Germany)
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Michal Pradal (Slovakia)
Matus Lisy (Slovakia)
Luka Radivojevič (Slovakia)
Jan Chovan (Slovakia)
Alex Misiak (Slovakia)
Michal Svrcek (Slovakia)
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Mans Goos (Sweden)
Love Harenstam (Sweden)
Karl Annborn (Sweden)
Sascha Boumedienne (Sweden)
Malte Vass (Sweden)
Arvid Drott (Sweden)
Filip Ekberg (Sweden)
Anton Frondell (Sweden)
Eddie Genborg (Sweden)
Milton Gastrin (Sweden)
Jakob IHS-Wozniak (Sweden)
Viktor Klingsell (Sweden)
Eric Nilson (Sweden)
Theo Stockselius (Sweden)
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Blake Fiddler (USA)
Mace'o Phillips (USA)
Charlie Trethewey (USA)
William Horcoff (USA)
Benjamin Kevan (USA)
Matthew Lansing (USA)
Cole Mckinney (USA)
William Moore (USA)
Jack Murtagh (USA)
Cullen Potter (USA)

There are also obviously a LOT of 2026 draft eligible players that are worth watching but I figured I'd save that for now. Latvia especially has a team full of 16yo players and it;'ll be interesting to see how they match up, as some are saying they're the favorites.

 

[Dead Coyote]

Michigans attempted: 1

 

[Dead Coyote]

I watched most of the Slovakia Finland game, it was a huge snoozer except for a couple of plays. Stopped watching about 10m into the 3rd to switch to Sweden Switzerland. Nothing has been particularly flashy except for the Michigan but I will say that Ivar Stenberg (2026) has been the best player so far.

 

[Dead Coyote]

Nice little play by Gastrin to create some open space to pass to Ekberg for a PP goal, rifled it right in the slot. 1-0 Sweden.

Off the faceoff Sweden gets it into the zone and almost the same thing happens but this time it's Ekberg ripping the shot in the slot that's a beauty. 2- 0 now.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Where is this being aired? I wouldn't mind leaving some games running in the background during my workday ..

 

[Dead Coyote]

Where is this being aired? I wouldn't mind leaving some games running in the background during my workday ..

The only things I can find about it local tv in Finland lol. You might have to put on your eyepatch for this one- though I expect that at least USA game will probably be aired on TSN or something...surely?

 

[Dead Coyote]

Ekberg with another very nasty wrister to put Sweden up 3-1.

 

[Dead Coyote]

Looks like NHLN has the Czechia USA game at least

 

[Dead Coyote]

Sweden went absolutely insane in their one game with 5/5 of the top scorers being Swedish players and draft eligibles.

Ekberg had 4 goals 1 assist, Boumedienne is the leading scorer with 1g 5a and Gastin, Wozniak, and Klingsell are all tied with 3 points.

I only watched up til the 2nd period midway but I thought Wozniak and Ekberg were impressive even in that time span. The 16yo Stenberg only had one goal but was all over the ice and looked impressive.

Blake Fiddler for the USA had 2 pts today. Mrtka had 1g. Horcoff was another draft eligible that had 1g. Murtagh and Moore both had 1a.

I think that's about it for reports on draft eligibles that are relevant.

Tournament wise Sweden looked the strongest of the teams, followed by USA. Latvia looked surprisingly weak but who knows how that'll go.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Sweden went absolutely insane in their one game with 5/5 of the top scorers being Swedish players and draft eligibles.

Ekberg had 4 goals 1 assist, Boumedienne is the leading scorer with 1g 5a and Gastin, Wozniak, and Klingsell are all tied with 3 points.

I only watched up til the 2nd period midway but I thought Wozniak and Ekberg were impressive even in that time span. The 16yo Stenberg only had one goal but was all over the ice and looked impressive.

Blake Fiddler for the USA had 2 pts today. Mrtka had 1g. Horcoff was another draft eligible that had 1g. Murtagh and Moore both had 1a.

I think that's about it for reports on draft eligibles that are relevant.

Tournament wise Sweden looked the strongest of the teams, followed by USA. Latvia looked surprisingly weak but who knows how that'll go.

I didnt watch much of the game other than part of the Czech-US game that was on tv. I only caught a few minutes in the 2nd before switching to the NHL playoffs. US team did not look all that great (they have up a SH goal). I read some criticism on Mrtka saying that the outside of the goal he was not all that great. Not engaged physically as you would expect someone his size and expecting to be drafted in the top-10 to

 

[Dead Coyote]

I didnt watch much of the game other than part of the Czech-US game that was on tv. I only caught a few minutes in the 2nd before switching to the NHL playoffs. US team did not look all that great (they have up a SH goal). I read some criticism on Mrtka saying that the outside of the goal he was not all that great. Not engaged physically as you would expect someone his size and expecting to be drafted in the top-10 to

He's not a physical player for sure, anyone expecting him to rock people with huge hits is going to be waiting for a very long time.