2024 IIHF World U18 Championship Recap
Well fellow draft nerds and hockey fans, another year in the books for the Under-18 World Championship and what a spectacular tournament it was. At the top, the Americans and Canadians dominated as expected, but everywhere else was absolutely filled with surprises. Kazakhstan’s young team winning their first ever game at this level and scoring 3 of the 7 goals Canada allowed in the round robin were huge bright points, but barely getting relegated against another young and promising Norwegian roster ended their tournament in a thrilling shootout finish sending them back to Division 1A. The Slovaks, the youngest team in the tournament, shocked a Czech team with a few players expected to be drafted in the top 50 in the NHL Draft this year, earning their second surprise semifinal appearance in a row. The Finns beat the Latvians who lost to Norway but beat the eventual fourth place Slovaks who surprised the Czechs who surprised the Swedes who barely scraped up a win over the Swiss. Got all that? Essentially outside of the top two teams, it was a bloodbath of craziness.
The real story of the tournament to me was how impressive the 2025 and 2026 NHL Draft-eligible players performed here. Gavin McKenna and Porter Martone formed a dominant pair with Malcolm Spence being a great talent on the Canadian roster as well and Kashawn Aitcheson providing rock solid defense when called upon. James Hagens and Logan Hensler were dynamite, with Hagens breaking the scoring record at this tournament and showcasing himself once again as serious consideration for the 1st overall slot for next year’s draft. Even beyond the biggest names, the 2025 NHL Draft eligible and beyond Slovaks led the way to a second consecutive medal round appearance which I certainly did not expect, and L.J. Mooney, Victor Eklund, Matthew Schaefer, Adam Benák and Daniels Serkins all performed very well and ended up on my preliminary watchlist for next season if they weren’t there already. The future looks bright for many countries here and it’s always a pleasure to see what’s coming beyond this upcoming draft.
In the end, the two best teams got to the end of the tournament and battled it out, with Canada gaining the upper hand after a poor start against the relentless Americans thanks to a silly major penalty from Trevor Connelly that ended their tournament. On the whole, there weren’t a ton of 2024 NHL Draft prospects in this tournament that completely changed my opinion of, but the stage was beginning to be set for the 2025 and 2026 Draft on multiple teams. The teams down the standings were young and energetic, and the teams at the top were relentless and insanely talented, but let’s dig into each team and some key takeaways.
-
The Kazakhs had a very different looking roster than the team that earned their placement in the top division in 2023. Largely coming on the back of Ottawa Senators draft pick Vladimir Nikitin, all but one player from that team joined the roster in Finland. They were one of the youngest rosters in the tournament with 8 potential returnees, so their status as underdog was earned. In reality, Kazakhstan really showed well throughout the tournament. Sure, losing 5-2 to Switzerland and 7-1 to Sweden isn’t a great start, but they shocked the Czechs and earned their first ever win at this tournament in an overtime thriller. Of course an 11-3 loss to Canada is a drubbing, but considering Canada only allowed 7 goals in the round robin and the Kazakhs snuck in 3, that seems like another win to me. At one point they were tied! If you can set aside the scores in these games, there were some really impressive moments to take home for this group.
Unfortunately, another thriller ending in a shootout loss to Norway relegated them back to Division 1A, and their young roster will have to battle their way back into the 2026 tournament. They deserve a level of credit and attention regardless, scoring more goals in the round robin than Switzerland and the Czechs, looking like a team trying to make a statement, playing with surprising speed and strong intensity that rewarded them often.Abzal Alibek was the name that stood out to me, but may players performed much better than expected. He had an ability to skate with the best in the tournament, on and off the puck, finding routes and lanes to get through defenses and showing a great release that landed him on the scoreboard a few times. He had points in all but one game they played, and seemed just as big a threat as any of the top forwards on the Czech and Swiss teams in their games. The team was a committee of solid players, but Alibek was the one that jumped out to me the most.
-
Kazakhstan might have been the team I was hoping Norway would be, but the Norwegians came out with a strong tournament themselves, staying in the top division after a tremendous relegation win in the shootout. Their youth provided good supplemental offense with Mikkel Erikson and Niklas Aaram-Olsen leading the way, but there was strong talent up and down the roster that may not have been able to keep up with the higher end teams in the tournament, but had enough skill to keep themselves in the top division. Their goaltending was subpar, and while a .841 save percentage isn’t great, facing 40+ shots per game is a heavy workload at this level. The positive to take away is that while Norway is losing a skilled, pace-y player in Elias Vatne, they have quite a few strong players eligible to return next season and perhaps take a step into the quarterfinals if all goes well.
Mathias Dehli literally stood out to me with 3 key goals in the round robin and 3 key assists in the relegation round. His size made a difference for Norway with strong pace in his game, landing him in scoring areas offensively when Norway got there. His performance against Latvia tilted things in an extremely important game for them as they fought for a quarterfinal spot. Dehli was a great foil off the puck for the smaller, more skilled players he shared the ice with, but he came away as a name to keep an eye on. -
The Swiss were a funny bunch in this installment. Some of the names on their roster have been players I’ve seen in passing and gone “huh, neat!”, but very little in the way of threats that could challenge the best in the tournament. That said, they kept themselves in the top division thanks to a win over Kazakhstan, and very nearly upsetting the leaky Swedes in overtime. They only managed to score 8 goals in the whole tournament, but there were some strong performances worth noting.
Basile Sansonnens was the strong, dependable defender with plenty of range with his skating and reach, closing gaps, challenging rushes and keeping play outside of scoring areas well. He’s been a player I’ve popped in and out on over the year and might be an interesting player to monitor as he ages and fills out. You can see why he wears a letter for his country with how much he solidifies a team of speed an intensity. Jamiro Reber was another talented player who showed up and was about what I expected. He was a tremendously fast and skilled player who as clearly relied upon heavily as a key puck transporter and play creator, but he often seems to struggle to actually produce once the puck gets to the offensive zone, overhandling and skating himself into the boards and losing possession. A player with loads of potential but a ways to go, he came away playing a ton but getting no production out of it.
Losing Leon Muggli after a strong first few game was also a serious gut punch for the Swiss. Muggli was showcasing his confidence carrying pucks through the neutral zone with skill and deception, and some good finishing ability that landed him one of Switzerland’s few goals. While other defensemen rose to the occasion without him, there’s no telling what they may have been able to do with a bit more firepower on the defensive end of their offense. On that note, Daniil Ustinkov continues to perplex. On one hand, you see the potential of this player. He’s mobile, intense with his skating, pushing defenders back and using skill in stride to mess with the feet of opponents and creating gaps to get shots through. You would be remiss looking at his stats thinking he deserved to be anywhere near the top few rounds of an NHL Draft, but he’s a player of potential. Yes, he’s not a physical stopper of a defenseman just yet, and his pass selection is often very safe, understated and reserved, but he shows a good release from the point, he can quarterback a power play, and he transports the puck up the ice well, most projectably so through his passing. He can delay, see the ice properly and hit targets easily, but you always are left wanting a bit more out of him. More confidence to step into scoring areas himself, more quickness to explode out of skill moves and challenge defenders more. I’ve said all season that he’s the best boring player in the draft, but there are signs of more. He’s extremely young for the draft class and while I was expecting more out of him here, he was still Daniil Ustinkov.Ludvig Johnson managed to find himself in the lineup replacing Leon Muggli, and I’ve had Johnson in my back pocket all year. If you ask me, his dynamic skill and remarkable skating ability should have been on the roster from the start. Sure, his performance against the US National Team wasn’t great, but that was by far his biggest test of the season after spending much of the year in the Swiss junior league. He landed a secondary assist on his first shift of the tournament against Sweden and showed extremely well as a puck mover and offensive zone possession player. I’m still not sure anyone is paying attention about him, but I’ve seen enough of him that him being the last name selected if you have a bunch of picks and seeing what he is in four years might not be the worst idea.
Through it all, Christian Kirsch got my MVP nod. The team as a whole played strongly by committee, similar to the Kazakhs, but Kirsch was solid, even if the numbers don’t back that up. He was facing down some tough chances against some very good teams with three of Switzerland’s five games coming against Canada, the US, and Sweden. There were some big key saves at key moments, and the games against Sweden and the States could’ve gone quite differently had he seriously struggled. They weren’t a great team, but they surprised a few teams in a few key moments and stayed in the top division once again, which is always a nice win. -
How do I describe the 2024 Czech U18 experience? Disappointing perhaps? The Czechs brought a handful of potential NHL Draft picks, including a few that could go quite high, but pretty much everyone struggled to continuously get the upper hand on their opponents. Yes, losing to Kazakhstan is embarrassing on it’s own, and losing to a young, weaker on paper Slovakia roster is also not great, but a shootout win over the Swedes is something to note! I struggled a bit to really see who the standouts were on this roster though. There were some good talents, but it simply didn’t seem to come together in a cohesive way to get them to a medal game. Adam Jecho and Max Curran certainly were… big? I still think that those two are “draft them for the size and cross your fingers” players to a point in the draft, but they did make somewhat of an impact with Jecho leading the team with three points, including two key even strength goals, but I can’t help but think there should’ve been more there from so many players.
Jakub Fibigr showcased his mobility but really struggled to control possession of the puck and seize the role as a premier transporter. Ondrej Kos hasn’t played in months, and the skill level I’ve seen in the past was certainly here with good finishing ability, but he was sticking to the perimeter and taking low percentage shots on extended possessions that simply won’t lead to offense against good teams here. Tomas Galvas was his shifty self, but it seems like he was trying to do too much with the puck, too much with his feet, and struggled to gain enough separation to make offensive plays like he needs to in order to be effective. Petr Sikora has flirted with my list all year, but the more I watched, the less curious I was considering his lack of strength and projectable offensive tools, and he struggled to be a serious even strength threat at this tournament. I did enjoy watching Tomas Poletin who had some good skill and showed some potential for better output when he’s eligible to return for next year. Captain Adam Hlinský also deserves a shoutout for his literally pointless but important job in this tournament. He’s never been known as an offensive creator, but it wouldn’t surprised me to see an NHL team take a swing on him late. He leads through dependability on the ice with good mobility, hard work, good body positioning to cause turnovers, and quick, easy, basic thinking to move pucks up the ice. There’s enough skill to create passing options, and there’s enough talent to move play in the right direction one pass at a time, and on a team that lacked a level of cohesion, Hlinský showed up and did what he could to change that.
The one name I was firmly set on and paying attention to was Adam Benák. He’s small, but he’s a dynamite player. Constantly in motion, constantly hounding puck carriers, driving possession up the ice on his own stick and really taking leadership of the transition game for the Swiss. Other players brought some brawn and strength that is desperately needed when Benák is on the ice, but it doesn’t take long to see why he’s already playing hockey in the Czech top division. Super skilled, high energy, not entirely focused on offense, there are plenty of good things going on in his game that bodes well for his future in the 2025 NHL Draft, and I’m hoping he can grow into a vital producer for this team next year. -
Over the years I’ve come to see Latvia as a kind of mini Finland. They bring teams that on paper shouldn’t be quite as strong as they turn out to be. This team was a surprisingly pace-y, energetic group with some flashes of skill and finish through the lineup. They were the youngest team in the tournament, and kept themselves in almost every game. A 3-1 loss to Finland, a 5-3 win over Slovakia, a nail-biting 5-3 loss to Norway, and a pesky and annoying 4-0 loss to Canada with goaltender Mikus Vecvanags standing tall through it all. The key takeaway for the Latvians is that this was their most productive tournament at this event since 2015 scoring 10 goals with a 2007-born player leading the team in scoring.
On that note, while my MVP went to their goaltender, Daniels Serkins was a player that came out of nowhere or me to showcase some impressive finishing ability both in open ice away from the net and in front. The Latvians had some speed and physical play in their lineup, but Serkins was a key name in the offensive zone with some highlight moments, including a great snipe on the rush against the Americans. Not bad for a 16 year old playing second division junior hockey in Switzerland.
I always enjoy watching the Latvian roster. They have a bunch of players coming out of Riga’s main hockey school, but they bring together players from all over Europe and are always a selfless, hard working group that punches above their weight class. From my very basic recon work, the Latvian program looks like it should have a strong 2025 roster with some key names returning. Unfortunately they will lack goaltender Mikus Vecvanags who was the second busiest goaltender in the tournament behind Kazakhstan’s Tanirkhan Alpysbayev but he stood strong, almost maintaining a .900 save percentage on a nearly 40 shot workload. He stopped 34 of 37 against eventual champions Canada and looked good doing it. He bailed his team out with 12 key saves on 12 shots against Norwy, and backstopped them to victory over Slovakia. Sure, 6 goals against the US isn’t ideal, but this is also an American roster that popped 9 against Finland, so that’s a plus. It’s tough being a goaltender for teams in this tier, but he’s one I’ve had my eye on this year leading into this tournament and while he wasn’t spectacular, he did more than enough to keep his team in the top division and kept their elimination game somewhat close in the only way he could. -
It was another frustrating tournament for the Finns who have just one bronze medal to their name since 2018 and three quarterfinal losses instead. 18 goals in the preliminary round is respectable including two shutouts against Slovakia and Norway, and their quarterfinal game against Sweden could easily have tilted their direction, but frustrating is certainly the word I would use to encompass their performance.
Seeing Aron Kiviharju in action was fascinating for me, seeing as his play at the highest levels has left me wanting when projecting him as an NHL talent, and he was still Aron Kiviharju in this tournament. Great puck skills, a great mind for moving pucks through his passing, especially on the power play, and limitations with his skating that left him behind defensively, especially on the rush and shutting down defensive zone cycles. I have a couple of his games downloaded to track and will be interested to see how his deeper metrics look and if my eyeballs are tricking me, but he came in and showcased both the pros and cons of his profile.
Everyone and their dog is probably interested in Konsta Helenius and I’ve already gotten a few questions about how I felt about his performance, and my response is pretty simple: He was Konsta Helenius. He’s a player who doesn’t carry a ton of pace, doesn’t carry gamebreaking skill, but certainly has all the smarts in the world to time his passes and find targets, but he and Kiviharju’s production was seriously limited to Finland’s power play. Going into the tournament, I was much lower on Helenius than most, and after a lacklustre World Junior and now an okay U18 performance, I still don’t see many reasons to put him up as the top European available as some have portrayed. Five of his seven points came against Slovakia and Norway, with just one point against the US and Sweden, He still projects well to the NHL and you can bet on the smarts, but the question is where in the draft do you do so?
My MVP pick could have gone to a few names, including Kiviharju, but I was really pleasantly surprised by a few names on the roster. Emil Hemming refreshed my memory of his potential as a powerful winger with pace and a great shot on the rush with flashes of skill you love to see at this level. Daniel Nieminen skated well, controlling possession well and defending with his feet, and Joona Saarelainen was a real standout as well that I wasn’t anticipating with his separation speed, scary pace to his offensive zone cycles and a shot he wasn’t afraid to use. The most impressive all around player for me was Tuomas Suoniemi. Six even strength points, including a key assist on their only goal against Sweden dishing the puck to Kiekko-Espoo teammate and fellow impressive player Heikki Ruohanen. He was cutting into scoring areas and daring to push play and generate offense. He’s an undersized skill player that gives me echoes of Jere Lassila from a few years back.
It was a tough tournament for the Finns, but there were some good supplementary performances down the lineup that are worth taking another look at before the NHL Draft. -
What the heck was that? Who are these guys? I gave the Slovaks very little credit going into the tournament, and depending on the game, they alternated between what I thought the were, getting shut out by Finland and Sweden, and looking energetic and skilled with an 11-1 win over Norway and a shocking 3-2 win over the Czechs. Another one of the youngest rosters in the tournament with eight potential returnees, they were absolutely fascinating to watch. Luka Radivojevic looked dominant controlling play on the power play, and fellow 2007’s Tobias Tomik and Tomas Chrenko also had strong tournaments pushing the pace of the game and using skill and lead the offense. In fact, all four of their top scorers were 2025 and 2026 draft eligible players.
Of the 2024 NHL Draft class on the team, to me it was an eye-opening experience seeing Miroslav Satan Jr. He is on stilts out there standing 6’7” with about the same amount of weight on him as a 155 pound 6 footer. There is plenty of room for growth but the speed he carried himself with was absolutely insane. It was about all he brought to the table but the potential is hard to ignore. He wasn’t a great physical player, relying on soft stick checks and getting turned around and left behind often, but it’s going to be hard for NHL teams to leave a player this tall, this fast, and this curious completely off the board at the draft. He may be a home run swing, but this is a guy who has some high end traits in his game while also being a giant.
My MVP goes to the guy I was most excited to watch going in, Tomas Pobezal. Barely ineligible for the 2024 NHL Draft, Pobezal has been a mainstay on international ice for Slovakia. Scoring 4 of their 14 goals is nothing to scoff at, making great reads in transition defensively and bursting into scoring areas, including a gorgeous drive to the net against Norway. Sure all of his goals came against Norway, but he was a serious offensive piece for the team with his all-around quickness between his feet, hands, and shot leading the way for the plucky Slovaks who once again outperformed, earning their second medal game spot since being promoted to the top division in 2022. -
I hate throwing around the word disappointing, especially as a not particularly talented hockey player myself, but Sweden was a weird team that didn’t quite live up to expectations. I felt that this team could quietly find their way to a medal, and while they did win the bronze, they won just two games in the preliminary round for the first time in a full length tournament since 2017, with only one regulation win. The last time that happened? 2015. They barely beat the Czechs and Swiss, squeaked out a 2-1 victory over Finland, but put up a heck of a fight in their game against Canada. The only problem is they were down 4-0 at the first intermission, making the rest of the game about as uphill a battle as possible, ultimately losing 5-4. There were a lot of very okay performances from many of the players, and quite a few of the key names have only just emerged from SHL and HockeyAllsvenskan playoffs. Losing Alexander Zetterberg who was a key cog in their power play was a hit, and there didn’t seem to be enough to fill the gap he left. Goaltender Love Härenstam was a name for me to watch going in, and when push came to shove, he struggled, allowing 5 goals on 26 shots to Canada, and another 5 in the opening game to the same team on just 25 shots. Every other game against weaker competition though, he was excellent, capping everything off with a shutout against Slovakia to win the bronze. He’s eligible to return next year, and a .953 save percentage against everyone except Canada isn’t bad.
I felt Linus Eriksson improved as the tournament went on, as did Viggo Nordlund who both brought good puck distribution ability and smarts at both ends. Victor Eklund was pushing the pace of the game with his combination of energy and skill leading the way in goal scoring. Of course, my eyes were firmly trained on Alfons Freij, and I came away feeling absolutely no different. Sure there were shaky moments against more physical and speedy competition with his pass selection and evasion on the rush, but boy can this guy play. He was creating chance after chance, using stick checks effectively to cause turnovers, and in my view was Sweden’s best defender and probably the best defender to not be on my all star team.
Lucas Pettersson was the player of the tournament for me. Sweden struggled to consistently generate offense, especially against speedier teams, but Pettersson was a huge factor in generating the high energy offense needed to win at the highest levels. His confidence is arguably his strength as well as a downside at times, but he was attacking scoring areas hard, and had key scoring moments including points on all three goals in the OT game against Switzerland and a point in their 2-1 victory over Finland. There are ups and downs to Pettersson and I’m fascinated to see where he goes in the draft and how his career pans out. -
Another year, another dominant tournament for the American national development program. They scored 33 goals in the round robin, slicing and dicing through every single team they played, emphatically punching their tickets to the gold medal game with lopsided with after lopsided win.
An excellent performance in the gold medal game went unrewarded unfortunately, with a Trevor Connelly major penalty in the third period handing Canada the tying, go ahead and insurance goals, but they started that game firing on every cylinder outshooting the Canadians significantly leading into the fateful third period. Every line and every pair showed strong abilities, whether it be Cole Hutson’s puck control and creativity, Brodie Ziemer’s vision and complimentary playmaking, Cole Eiserman’s laser bombs, or Teddy Stiga’s limitless energy, they were terrifying almost every shift right up to the very end. It was pleasant seeing L.J. Mooney at this level after some impressive viewings here and there during the season. Playing up an age group, he didn’t look out of place with a hilarious amount of quickness and energy that found him zipping and zooping around the offensive zone and forechecking through the neural zone against anyone. They got great goaltending, strong neutral zone defense from EJ Emery, John Whipple and friends, and some absolute monsters leading the way up front.
Cole Hutson was another standout with an impressive showing of puck rushing ability and offensive creativity that drove play significantly. He’s been a player who has steadily improved in my eyes over the year, especially with his play on the puck and how he manages his rushes. He’s making strong plays without taking on too much risk, reading multiple options on offensive zone entries, and all-in-all looking like a more and more projectable version of his archetype as time goes on. There are some downsides to his game off the puck, but he continues to impress more and more every time I see him.
Speaking of which, did everyone meet James Hagens yet? Well if you haven’t, go watch some of the highlights of this dude. I’ve had some doubts in the past with Hagens’ pace and footwork but I didn’t think much of it considering the skill level and smarts he brought. This tournament only solidified just how talented this player is and how special he could be. He was relentless. He generated turnovers, he immediately made plays, he scored himself from range and in tight, he shipped pucks up the ice effectively through carries and passing, but above all, he was a tactical master at this level. He seemed to read defensemen as well as you could at full speed, and his awareness of teammates, cleanliness of his passes were top notch. Every game, he was a factor even if he was held scoreless in the loss to Canada. It was an excellent tournament for Hagens and he certainly cemented himself on this big stage as a premier talent for next seasons NHL Draft. -
As expected by many, the Canadians and the Americans met in another gold medal matchup this season. Pre-tournament, Canada appeared to be one of the most interesting and talented rosters at this tournament in a while for the powerhouse. The future of the sport was showcased in spades featuring Malcolm Spence, Matthew Schaefer, Porter Martone, Kashawn Aitcheson and the star of the show, Medicine Hat’s Gavin McKenna. It was a coming out party for McKenna, scoring 20 points in 7 games, including 10 goals, many of which were highlight reel material, and from start to finish was a creative force in every game. He uses his skill so well at just the right times, and sliced through defenses time and time again. He’s eligible to return next year and I can only imagine what happens if that comes to pass. It was a tremendous tournament for McKenna with very few meaningless points thrown in there. He was a tidal wave of offensive creativity creating space from defenders with his edges and skill, threading passes into scoring areas and following up on chances himself. Credit to Carter George as well, who put on an astounding performance to lock down the gold medal game, capping off a 6-0 tournament and made the saves he needed to make at every turn.
The entire lineup just blew everyone out of the water, even when the ridiculously talented top line was off the ice. Tij Iginla led the way with his intensity and diverse offensive toolkit with his wrist shot release finding the net almost once every game, he showcased his playmaking side and pushed opposing defenders into oblivion. Harrison Brunicke ate minutes in almost any situation, making strong defensive stops and adventuring into the offensive zone off the puck on cycles to push for offense. He and Kashawn Aitcheson put on a good show of principled, solid defending and got the puck up to the skilled players in the neutral zone. Cole Beaudoin also deserves attention as a key forechecker and pace-pusher, driving pucks up the ice with strength and power, finishing checks, and being a big reason why Canada found themselves physically pinning opponents in their defensive zones. They played with discipline, they played with structure, and were rewarded for it with another gold medal for the trophy case.
