After a week in Red Deer for Hlinka Gretzky, he heads to Edmonton for the rescheduled 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship. Here’s a roundup of the players I thought stood out — or failed to stand out — this past week in Edmonton after Canada beat Finland 3-2 in overtime in the gold medal game with Kent Johnson scoring the golden goal.
Distinctives
Canada Ducks: Mason McTavish, C / Olen Zellweger, D
McTavish was the best player of the tournament. His combination of speed, high-end skills, strength and scoring ability set him apart from the pack. McTavish was impressive on the puck thanks to his feet, strength and two-way competition, while also being able to make many creative plays to generate chances. He also made a tournament-saving defensive play in the gold medal game in overtime. He looks like a player ready to step in with the Ducks.
Zellweger was one of the best defenders in the tournament. His skating and puck movement stood out consistently. He made a lot of plays and with his legs he was able to play in the fast pace of this event with no problems. His defense wasn’t amazing given his size, but with his skating, he was able to be good enough on pull-ups and make enough defensive plays to get the most out of his offensive abilities.
Emil Andrae, LHD, Philadelphia
Andre was arguably Sweden’s best skater in the tournament. His great skills and playmaking ability led their offense and when they needed a goal, the puck went to his stick to make things happen. Andre isn’t the biggest defender, but he competes pretty hard, which allows him to stop and win fights. Because of his skating, I doubt if his game will really work in the NHL, but he is certainly a player on the rise after a strong year in the Allsvenskan.
Ridley Greig, C, Ottawa
Until he was injured in the quarterfinals, Greig was one of the best players in the tournament. He showed his typical two-way tenacity, being great on defense while attacking the net consistently with speed and skill. He looks like a player on a fast track to becoming a top 9 center in the league.
Robbie Jarventi, LW, Ottawa
Jarventie had a huge tournament for Finland as a big part of their attack. He is not a perfect player as he lacks speed and physicality, but in the offensive zone Jarventier can do a lot. He is very skilled, can hit the seams as a passer and has a great shot, making him a real threat on the power play. The difference between him at this tournament and the version of him we saw in 2021 was night and day.
Kent Johnson goes up against Finland’s goalkeeper Juha Jatkola in overtime during the gold medal game at the 2022 World Junior Championships. (Jeff McIntosh / The Canadian Press via AP)
Line Kent Johnson (Columbus) – Logan Stankoven (Dallas) – Tyson Foerster (Philadelphia)
In tough games, this group stepped up for Canada and was their most consistent line. Johnson’s skills are elite and his imagination with the puck was above vintage at this level. Stankoven also brought a lot of energy and skill in addition to being reliable in the middle for that line, and by the end of the tournament, Canada’s power play flowed through him. Foerster didn’t have the best junior year, but he was pretty good in this tournament. He made a lot of plays, worked hard and was constantly involved in the attack. His skating will be an issue as a pro until he proves it’s not an issue, but at the fast pace of this tournament he showed it wasn’t.
Finland’s highest line
The top trio of Ronny Hirvonen (Toronto), Aatu Ratti (New York Islanders) and Joakim Kemmel (Nashville) were the clear leaders for Finland at even strength. Raty and Kemell were among the tournament’s leading goalscorers, Kemell doing so just months after being picked after so many performances at December’s World Juniors. The three of them showed great levels of competition to go along with their skills and Kemell was able to play at a professional pace.
Jiri Kulich, LW, Buffalo
As with Kemell, Kulich was average at this tournament before being called off in December, but he suddenly became the go-to player in this event and the statistical leader for the Czech Republic. Kulic showed the quickness, skill and scoring ability that made him a recent first-round pick, but he was also strong with the puck and wasn’t physically overwhelmed by facing older players.
Joel Maata, C, Edmonton
Maata’s scouting report has always focused on his work ethic, but he’s never been all that impressive from a skating or skill standpoint. That’s why it was so interesting to see the Oilers’ recent seventh-round pick elevated to a prominent scoring role for Finland with power play time. I still wouldn’t call him a natural scorer or playmaker, but he might have more skills than I thought.
Maxim Strbak, RHD, Slovakia, eligible for 2023
I don’t think Strbak stood out, but for a player born in 2005 in a 2002 tournament, I thought he held his own, which is impressive in itself. Strbak is quite skilled, he’s a 6-foot-2 defenseman who can skate well and showed flashes of impressive skills at the tournament – including running a powerplay unit. I’ve commented on the lack of top defense prospects in the 2023 NHL Draft in my previous articles, but it looks like Strbak has a chance to improve that group.
Team Latvia
For a group of players who wouldn’t have been at the tournament without Russia being kicked out, they certainly look like they belong. The Latvia U20 team was very competitive in almost every game they played. Two NHL forwards Sandys Vilmanis (Florida) and Dans Lokmelis (Boston) looked like solid prospects. I like Vilmanis the most because of his good speed and skill, but Losemlis also made a lot of plays. Draft-eligible defenseman Nix Fenenko is a strong skater who can also move the puck well enough to potentially have some draft intrigue in 2023 as well.
Jesper Walstead, G, Minnesota
There weren’t a ton of great goalkeeping displays in this tournament, but the few that came often came from Wallstedt. He was one of the rare goalkeepers under pressure from his team to wear them, and he succeeded when asked. He is so smart and technically sophisticated that he made very difficult stops look easy. He will still need time to learn how to make quick saves against men in North America, but there is no doubt that he is the best goaltending prospect.
disappointments
Dalibor Dvorski, C, Slovakia, eligible for 2023
Dvorsky was good on the power play, but I thought he struggled to generate much offense at even strength, mostly due to his lack of foot speed and being physically underdeveloped as a ’05 in a ’02 tournament. He is still the top prospect for the next draft because of how talented he is offensively, but the lack of speed in his game is a bit of an issue as he prepares to play professional hockey in his draft season in the Allsvenskan.
Vile Koivunen, RW, Carolina
For a player who was so productive against men this past season, I expected more from the 2021 second-round pick. Koivunen is a skilled, creative forward, but his skating has never been a strong suit, especially for his size. I’ve liked his work ethic on the ice in the past, but he didn’t compete as well or generate enough offense to make up for it, which led to his ice time being reduced.
Matthew Nice, LW, Toronto
Overall, I thought the top American line of Knies, Logan Cooley, and Matthew Coronato played well, at least until they had to in the quarterfinals, where this group didn’t. Knies in particular was a disappointment for me. While he showed great physicality and flashes of skill during the tournament, he finished the event with no goals and three points. He scored more goals at the Olympics than at the World Juniors. I felt the game lacked speed and creativity at times.
Strikers of Sweden
This is difficult because we knew coming in that Sweden would be hard pressed to score without Alexander Holtz and William Eklund (never mind Lucas Raymond). With that in mind, they still had some older first-rounders in Fabian Liesel (Boston), Isaac Rosen (Buffalo), and Oscar Olausson (Colorado) to go with some young 2022 first-rounders in Jonathan Lekerimaki (Vancouver) and Liam Ogren (Minnesota). None of them stood out. In particular, the efforts of Lysell, Rosen and Olausson were quite disappointing as compared to the good teams they could muster very little consistency. Lysell was probably the best of the three because of his great speed and skill, but he stuck to the perimeter a lot when creating his offense, as Rosen and Olausson did.
Brad Lambert, RW, Winnipeg
Lambert was the star of the tournament in December, but struggled at this event, seeing his ice time dwindle as the event progressed to a healthy scratch. He had flashes of showing off his great speed and skill, but struggled to make many plays at the fast pace of the tournament and much of his offense came from the outside. Next year will be his year to have a bigger role at this event.
Simon Edvinsson, LHD, Detroit
Edvinsson was one of the best at the tournament in December, but it’s fair to say he didn’t have the week he expected. Part of that was due to an injury in the pre-tournament game and getting food poisoning in midweek, but even with that in mind, he didn’t do a ton to help Sweden win games. He’s a great player coming off a great season and there aren’t many players in hockey with his combination of size, skating and skill, but he coughed up a lot of pucks this week when the games got faster and it was hard to tell he looked NHL ready .
(Mason McTavish photo: Andy Devlin/Getty Images)
Add Comment