USA should win Gold at WJC

The host Canadians are the last nation to pull off a repeat, winning in 2022 and 2023, and this year they are the biggest threat to the United States coming out of the same group.

What makes this American squad the best contender to repeat is a balanced roster across the board that is backstopped by the most experienced goalie at the tournament.

Holding it down between the pipes for the Americans for the third straight year is Detroit Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine, the current starter at Michigan State posting a .930 save percentage with a 1.98 goals against average through 14 games with the Spartans.

Augustine was the starter for USA in his draft year posting an .891 save percentage and 2.85 goals against average en route to the Bronze medal, then last year he had a .929 save percentage with 1.89 goals against average while capturing Gold. If he performs anywhere near what he’s done for the Spartans this year he should win the tournament’s top goaltender award, proving a big problem against the tournament’s best offenses.

Buffalo prospect Konsta Helenius, left, will represent Finland at the World Junior Hockey Championships.
AP photo

Not only will the United States have the best goalie, but the top defenseman at the tournament will be representing the Stars and Stripes, University of Denver sophomore and SoCal product Zeev Buium.

Since winning the Gold Medal last year, Buium has gone on to win the National Championship, then was drafted No. 12 by the Minnesota Wild and is currently leading the NCAA in defenseman scoring with 4 goals and 16 assists in 20 games. Buium may not be as offensively gifted as Seamus Casey and Lane Hutson from last year’s squad, but he’s a more well-rounded defender that has no problem moving the puck.

Supplementing that loss of offense in Hutson and Casey is Hutson’s younger brother, Cole, a freshman at Boston University with 4 goals and 10 assists. Cole is very similar to his brother Lane, bringing a lot of speed and creativity to his game, but this year he will not be completely relied upon with Buium ready to take the next step and a solid forward group more than capable of putting the puck in the back of the net.

With a couple showstoppers on the back end there will be plenty of muscle to support them and that includes Sabres prospect Adam Kleber. The Buffalo second-rounder comes in at 6’6″ and 214 pounds and has been paired with Hutson in pre-tournament competition providing a shutdown role.

New York Rangers prospect Drew Fortescue has paired up with Buium, while Dallas prospect Adam Minnetian has paired up with St. Louis prospect Colin Ralph. A player to watch for on the United States defense is Logan Hensler who will be fighting for ice time early as one of the team’s youngest players, competing in his draft year in which he will likely be a top 20 pick this summer.

While Hensler will need to prove himself at this tournament for ice time, coming in a similar position as Buium last year, that is not the case for James Hagens. Similar to the 2019 WJC team that featured Jack Hughes as the No. 1 center en route to a Silver Medal, Hagens will likely center the Americans best two wingers in Rangers prospect Gabe Perreault and Capitals prospect Ryan Leonard.

Perreault and Leonard have found plenty of success representing the USA, leading it to the top of several tournaments and Hagens is not going to miss a beat between them. If the Americans are going to repeat, that line needs to be what it’s expected to be, the best line at the tournament with at least one of them on the All-Tournament team and in the conversation for scoring leader.

With a lot of pressure on the top line, the middle-six needs to have a few breakout performances and the prime candidates are Chicago prospect Oliver Moore who might be one of the best skaters at the tournament, Vegas prospect Trevor Connelly brings a lot of talent on the wing and across from him will be sharpshooting Islanders prospect Cole Eiserman.

Buffalo has another prospect to root for on Team USA in Brodie Ziemer, the 2024 third rounder will likely play a third line role and is not expected to light up the scoresheet, but can be relied on in many situations.

Ziemer and Kleber are Buffalo’s best bets on bringing home a Gold Medal, but they’re far from the Sabres players who will provide the most impact at the tournament. Both Konsta Helenius and Anton Wahlberg figure to be some of the best pieces for Finland and Sweden, respectively, and both of those countries are legitimate contenders to medal.

Buffalo selected Helenius at No. 14 in the 2024 NHL Draft and he is already proving himself as a great selection with 6 goals and 11 assists in 28 games in the American Hockey League. Helenius is expected to be the No. 1 center on this year’s team after working his way up from a depth role in his draft year.

Finland is the third best team in Group A, right behind the United States and Canada, but even with the lack of star power the Finns will prove a tough game. There’s a lot of grit and future NHL depth players on Finland with quite a bit of size, most notably in Sharks prospect Kasper Halttunen, Stars prospect Emil Hemming and Kraken prospect Julius Miettinen.

The Penguins are represented well again on team Finland with defensemen Kalle Kangas and Emil Pieniniemi, both providing more of a shutdown role and the latter having a little more offensive pop.

The real name to watch on Finland is captain Aron Kiviharju who was once regarded as an elite prospect but injury derailed him his draft year and he is set out to prove himself at this tournament.

Then in the other bracket, Sweden is the favorite to finish first and with a well-rounded roster it would be no surprise if Gold went back to Europe. Wahlberg did not play any pre-tournament games as he stayed with Rochester in the AHL and was finally loaned to the national team after his game on Dec. 22 in which he had an assist

I expect him to slot right into the top six on the wing and he will make himself a fixture playing in the dirty areas and his experience in the pros will provide an expected boost to last year’s totals of 1 goal and 2 assists winning Silver.

Sweden’s top forward line should be Blues prospect Otto Stenberg at left wing, Predators prospect David Edstrom at center and Hurricanes prospect Felix Unger Sorum on the right wing. Wherever Wahlberg lines up he will need to carry the workload to provide Sweden some scoring depth, it would be interesting to see him get some time with 2025 NHL Draft prospect Victor Eklund who is the younger sibling of William Eklund on the Sharks.

The future household names from Sweden will be manning the blue line and Red Wings prospect Axel Sandin-Pellikka has the potential to be the best defender at the entire tournament.

Sandin-Pellikka currently plays for Skkelleftea AIK in the Swedish Hockey League and the teenager is lighting it up with 8 goals and 14 assists. Adding to the defensive depth are Blues prospect Theo Lindstein and Canucks prospect Tom Willander.

Behind one of the more well-rounded defensive corps at the tournament could be any of the three solid options Sweden presents in Islanders prospect Marcus Gidlof, Blue Jackets prospect Melvin Strahl or Utah prospect Melker Thelin. Gidlof is probably the best option coming in at 6’6″ and playing in the SHL for Falu IF, but it should not matter for Sweden until it runs into the United States or Canada.

The Americans present several threats already stated, but Canada brings quite a bit of firepower while leaving some of its best at home.

Three of Canada’s forwards have already made their NHL debuts in the Avalanche’s Cal Ritchie, Toronto’s Easton Cowan and Philadelphia’s Jett Luchanko. Ritchie will have a good opportunity to be Canada’s top forward as the No. 1 center, but he’s not even the player teams will have to worry about.

Every year at the World Juniors there is a draft eligible player that captures everyone’s attention and this Canadian squad is not short in that category, in fact there is a Canadian not even draft eligible until 2026.

Gavin McKenna is the next Canadian superstar, the freshly turned 17 year old comes in as Canada’s top scorer with 19 goals and 41 assists for Medicine Hat in the Western Hockey League. The hype for McKenna is right there with 2023 top pick Connor Bedard and expect him to have a similar debut at the World Juniors.

Canada’s reliance on youth does not stop there, while right behind Hagens in the draft rankings are winger Porter Martone of the Mississauga Steelheads and defenseman Matthew Schaefer of the Erie Otters.

Martone has practiced on the third line to the right of Penguins prospect Tanner Howe and former Pittsburgh prospect Brayden Yager at center. It won’t be a surprise if that trio quickly earns the trust of their coaches with more responsibility.

Then on the back end, Canada made several questionable choices, but the depth of talent still provides a squad that could secure the Gold. Despite being the youngest defender, Canada has already entrusted Schaefer with the top powerplay duties and it’s no surprise with the speed propelling one of best defensive prospects in years.

After Schaefer the Canadian defense is short on talent, but all it will need to do is keep the puck out of dangerous areas while quickly trying to move it to the great forward group.

Canada could go with either Kings prospect Carter George or Flyers prospect Carson Bjarnason in net, both are viable options to backstop a team to Gold. Jack Ivankovic is unlikely to steal the starting job as a draft eligible, but it should be interesting to see if he gets a chance.

Aside from the Big Four, both Czechia and Slovakia could pull off an upset, but the Czechs are likely to have an edge with the better goaltender in Michal Hrabal.

Buffalo will have something to root for on Slovakia in defender Maxim Strbak and East Amherst native Miroslav Satan, the son of former Sabres forward Miroslav Satan.

Buffalo also is represented on Germany in defenseman Norwin Panocha, but he is not expected to do much at the tournament.

When the tournament ends it should be the Americans raising Gold above the Canadians, while Sweden upends Finland for Bronze.

The MVP of the tournament and Top Goaltender should be Augustine helping the Americans achieve Gold, Buium takes home the Top Defender and McKenna is the Top Forward helping their respective countries ascend the podium. Then the All-Tournament team would be Augustine at goaltender; Buium and Sandin Pellikka on defense; and McKenna, Leonard and Perreault at forward.

The tournament begins today with Slovakia and Sweden at noon. Team USA follows against Germany at 2:30 p.m.