The Athletic’s prospect writers Scott Wheeler and Corey Pronman will again be providing daily standouts and analysis from this year’s World Juniors. Here are their Day 1 thoughts after the tournament’s Boxing Day kickoff at the Canadian Tire Centre and TD Place in Ottawa — a four-game day which included the three tournament front-runners of Canada, USA and Sweden.
• Sweden and Slovakia opened the tournament, with the reigning silver medalist Swedes defeating the Slovaks 5-2. Red Wings first-rounder and Sweden captain Axel Sandin-Pellikka led the way with a hat trick and four points. Slovak captain and Blues first-rounder Dalibor Dvorsky also scored for Slovakia, and Sabres prospect Maxim Strbak had assists on both of Slovakia’s goals.
• USA beat Germany 10-4. The Americans’ top line of Gabe Perreault, James Hagens and Ryan Leonard combined for nine points and 21 shots on goal, and Capitals second-rounder Cole Hutson led the way with five assists.
• Czechia beat the Swiss 5-1. Utah prospect Michael Hrabal stopped 25 of 26 shots (.962) for the Czechs.
• Canada blanked Finland 4-0. Top 2026 NHL Draft prospect Gavin McKenna opened the scoring and hometown Ottawa 67’s captain Luca Pinelli sealed it late. Kings goalie prospect Carter George pitched a 31-save shutout.
Sandin-Pellikka dominates Slovakia
Sandin-Pellikka (Detroit), named the top defenseman in last year’s World Juniors, was the clear best player in Sweden’s opener on Boxing Day against Slovakia. He recorded a hat trick and four points and was all over the play when he was on the ice. He made a ton of plays with the puck and was raining fire from the point on the Slovak goalie Samuel Urban. He defended well enough and didn’t shy from laying the body physically. He displayed the type of offensive ability that has some scouts thinking he could run a first power play in the NHL one day. — Corey Pronman
USA’s top line fills scoresheet
We knew coming into this year’s World Juniors that if Team USA were to win their first-ever back-to-back golds, the first line of Perreault (NY Rangers), Hagens (2025) and Leonard (Washington) — a trio who’ve played most of this season together at Boston College — would have to be the best line in the tournament. On Thursday, Perreault and Hagens each scored twice and the latter began to make his case for the top of the 2025 draft class with a four-point game. Leonard, the team’s captain, also led the game with nine shots on goal. They looked dangerous inside the offensive zone and had several other chances at the goal mouth that weren’t converted as well. Perreault’s vision, Hagens’ maneuverability and Leonard’s net drive were all evident and they play off each other really nicely.
USA’s “third line” of Max Plante (Detroit), Oliver Moore (Chicago) and Brodie Ziemer (Buffalo) really drove play at five-on-five during some important stretches of the game when the Germans hung in for longer than the final score indicated. When the chips are on the table, I expect them to play over USA’s second line of Cole Eiserman (NY Islanders), Danny Nelson (NY Islanders) and Trevor Connelly (Vegas). — Scott Wheeler
Questions about USA’s D linger
Despite the lopsided scoreline, I thought Team USA gave up way too much against the Germans — both against the rush and at times in their own zone. The makeup and inexperience of some of their D looked like a potential Achilles’ heel coming into the tournament this year and I’d be a little uneasy about it after Game 1.
There were moments and even stretches in the game where all of Colin Ralph (St. Louis), Aram Minnetian (Dallas) and Paul Fischer (Edmonton) struggled. Ralph has never played at a major international tournament for Team USA and I thought he looked out of place at the World Junior Summer Showcase in August. I’d expect one of those three to come out in favor of Adam Kleber (Buffalo) for USA’s next game against Latvia on Dec. 28. — Scott Wheeler
Canada’s stifling defense an early story
There was a lot of talk through pre-tournament and into Boxing Day about the potential lack of depth scoring on this Team Canada, and while they haven’t looked like they’ve got a high-powered offence, they’ve also defended really, really well as a team at five-on-five. None of the Swedes, the Czechs, or the Finns have really made this Canadian blue line flinch. Canada built its blue line around mobility and it has really shown in their ability to deny entries and get out and close on pucks inside the defensive zone. It’s also a competitive group that is willing to block shots and compete in battles for possession. Their top two pairings of Andrew Gibson-Tanner Molendyk and Oliver Bonk-Matthew Schaefer both played a lot and looked noticeably polished and ready for the biggest stage they’ve ever played on in front of the biggest crowd they’ve ever played in front of. — Scott Wheeler
(Photo of Rasmus Bergqvist and Axel Sandin-Pellikka: Mathias Bergeld / Sipa via AP Images)
