The 2021 IIHF U-18 Tournament Recap

A big reason why I'm such a fan of this tournament is because it can be messy, fun hockey that showcases just how bright the future of this game is. This season was not only no different, but felt like that was ratcheted up to 11 out of 10. Maybe it's the two year period it's been without this tournament, maybe it's the raw talent of the names coming to the NHL in the future, maybe it's that a number of high end players were able to play when they normally wouldn't, maybe it's all of the above, but this tournament was a heck of a show and I wish I could've been there.

I won't waste a ton of time before breaking each team's effort down individually, but I also just want to mention that the U18 to me is just a nice tournament to casually evaluate specific cases, rather than making large judgements regarding a players game. It's short, many players have had tumultuous seasons, and lots of bounces going one way or the other can make a player seem much better or worse, so it's important to be careful when making observations. The way I see it, this tournament was a great experience to see cases who have caught my eye like Dmitri Kuzmin, Aleksi Heimosalmi, Ville Koivunen, and see what happens when their level of play is elevated to high end global talent, and what happens when they're on small ice. In some cases, my thoughts were confirmed. In others, it makes me want to go back and take another look. Which ones were which? Find out below!

10. Germany (0-4-0-0)
Pre-Tournament Rank - 10
MVP: ​Bennet Roßmy

​I honestly don't really know what to say about the German team from this year. I saw their games, rewatched a bunch in the time since, and I still have a hard time identifying points to take home of any kind. They seemed outmatched in every game, struggled to score, struggled to keep up with the pace, and struggled to keep the puck out of their net. They were there, they showed up, and Bennet Roßmy showed his shot and range here and there.

Roßmy was the guy I had my eye on going into the tournament, and while I came away leaning more towards taking him off my list, he was still a threatening player for the Germans from time to time. Nikita Quapp had some nice moments when tested in net, but I'm really grasping at straws here. I thought Latvia was a more cohesive and talented unit and had there been a relegation round, I imagine the Germans would be against the ropes, but we'll see what they fire back with in 2022. At least Julian Lutz can come back?

9. Latvia (0-4-0-0)
Pre-Tournament Rank - 9
MVP: Martins Lavins

The Latvians were in tough, and needed to hope for a victory against Belarus or Switzerland to pull off a quarterfinal appearance. Funnily enough, their closest games were against Switzerland and future champions Canada, losing 4-2 in both. I felt the Latvians came to play, but the jump in talent to this tournament for many of these young players was huge. They played as a unit and worked off each other well, but they just had trouble pushing back against high-end opponents and high intensity defensive play.

Gustavs Ozolins was a guy I had my eye on, and while I saw the skill and passing ability on display on breakouts especially, he seemed to have issues taking over play and driving possession consistently. Martins Lavins, Darels Dukurs, and Anri Ravinskis were players who I felt came the closest to truly challenging their opponents, but nobody on this team jumped out at me as "I should be drafted" talents. Lavins gets my MVP for the mobility and pace he brought from time to time, even if he didn't necessarily dominate his team and his opponents. Their effort was admirable, I enjoyed watching them push back against Canada pretty hard, and I do think they'd avoid relegation, but they were in a tough spot to begin with, and their results reflect that. Again, a team where it's hard to write anything extremely constructive, but they were there!

8. Switzerland (1-4-0-0)
Pre-Tournament Rank - 7​
MVP: Dario Sidler

Another team where I just shrug my shoulders and want to move on. They beat the Latvians, which should be assumed for a country like Switzerland, but other than that, they were not particularly competitive. Kevin Pasche played well in net, Louis Robin had some nice moments that I caught with some pace and skill, and I did come away curious about Livio Truog for the 2022 draft, but high-scoring names in Switzerland's lower levels were largely nowhere to be found. Reichle, Bougro, Prada, Biasca, all didn't show a whole lot that really moved the needle for me. In my view, this was expected after having watched my fair share of Swiss junior hockey. The Swiss are in a bit of a down period, but Lian Bichsel had some interesting flashes of defensive, physical play so I'll be curious to see what he can do next year.

My MVP was without a doubt the best player on the Swiss team in Dario Sidler. Again, he isn't a player I'd likely take a swing on in the NHL Draft, but if it were pick 224 and a bunch of other names I like are off the board, sure. Why not. I expected him to struggle a bit in this tournament with the defensive gap control and pressure application that I've seen in his experience with Zug, but the offense is there. He's mobile, highly skilled, and sends hard, crisp passes around the ice to push play. Of all the teams covered to this point, Sidler was the biggest standout to me, and I think he turned a few heads. He's obviously remarkably tiny, and he's obviously a longshot, and I will bet that the majority of NHL teams have no interest, but it's hard to deny his results. He led the team in SAT%, he led the team in scoring, he wasn't on the ice for a goal against at even strength, and I'll be curious to see what comes of his career in the coming years.

7. Czech Republic (1-3-0-1)
Pre-Tournament Rank - 6
MVP: Jakub Brabenec

Every team prior to the Czechs failed to score 7 goals in their entire tournament, so that makes real heavy, detailed analysis tough. With the Czechs, while they scored more, they are still in the same boat where there isn't really all that much to write home about. My guy Jiri Tichacek was... fine? Not great, not terrible, but I can't say I didn't expect a bit more. David Jiricek? Again, fine, but not what I expected. Simon Marha, Jakub Altrichter, and Jakub Brabenec all had moments of speed, skill and resiliency that I liked, but nothing that significantly moved the needle for me, which lines up with my experience with these players going into the tournament.

The biggest name, Stanislav Svozil was largely invisible in my view. I still have him rated in my 1st round for his mobility, skill and defensive maturity, but I really expected the Czech defense group to really be able to drive play and show how deep they are, but unfortunately I didn't see a ton that was particularly notable. Tomas Hamara is a player I've enjoyed in Finland, and he should be back next year, so there's at least that to look forward to, but again, this team gets a shrug from me. They got bamboozled by the Finns, as Finns can do, and they gave up 10 goals against the two teams that ended up in the gold medal final, which tells you a lot of what you need to know.

6. Belarus (2-3-0-0)
Pre-Tournament Rank - 8
MVP: Danila Klimovich

Pre-tournament, I called Belarus underrated, and I feel a little bit vindicated. If we're talking teams that maximized their talent level and then some on top, it was Belarus. ​​Dmitri Kuzmin had a coming out party as a legitimate NHL prospect as an offensively skilled defenseman, and of course he pulled out a lacrosse move to score a goal early in the tournament. Tikhon Chayka played well in net, doing what he needed to do to keep his team in it. I felt that if their game against Sweden was played more at 5v5, it would've been significantly closer than it was. They beat Latvia worse than Canada did, and in my view, they put up an impressive performance against Canada that showed that they could at least hang with the big dogs. I didn't expect Belarus to medal, but I also didn't expect Belarus to be down just 3-2 against the Russians going into the 3rd period of their quarterfinal, ending up outshooting them in a 5-2 loss.

It'd be too easy for me to put Dmitri Kuzmin as my MVP, but Danila Klimovich is hard to ignore. His skill with his hands, and pure shooting ability were on display, and well past what I expected going into this tournament. I'm a little skeptical of his legitimacy as an NHL prospect, but I can see him getting a flyer later on. If you can score, you can score, and he did the thing twice as often as any of his teammates.

They've got five players eligible to return, and their U18 and U17 program seem to get better and better over time recently. I'll have my eye out for their team next year, even if it lacks names like Kuzmin, Klimovich, Mikhalyov, and Morozov. The Belarusians were the team I enjoyed watching the most, relative to my expectations, and good on them for their effort this year.

5. United States (1-1-2-1)
​Pre-Tournament Rank - 1
MVP: Dylan Duke

​The States were my biggest whiff going into this year's tournament, as I had them pegged as a potential gold medal winner. Well, that did not happen. In fact, the States haven't lose in the quarterfinals at this tournament since I was in elementary school 20 years ago. I didn't think this team would struggle like they did, with three games going to overtime, and a quarterfinal against a Swedish team who decided they wanted to win a game when it mattered, but here we are. The goaltending wasn't great, and the States got exposed for issues that can be shrouded against USHL competition with regard to their pace, skill, and reliance on soft opponent defending to get pucks into the net. Curious names I had my eye on like Gilmartin, Janicke, and St. Louis, were all not much of an impact, Sean Behrens exemplified the issues in his game that may hold him  back from serious NHL upside surrounding his puck management, power generation and defensive pressure application at times. While Sasha Pastujov was impressive on the scoresheet as he is all year, and he still cemented himself as a legitimate NHL prospect in my books, I still fail to see a player that can maintain this scoring pace year over year without significant help on the ice with him. Great finishing ability, great skill under pressure to find open ice, but he's a big "I don't know" case study.

I did come away most impressed with Dylan Duke for reasons I expected coming in. He's tenacious, hard on pucks, plays fast, and can be a real nightmare around the net. He was a major driver of play when I saw him on the ice, and while he may not be an NHL scoring threat, I do think there's a rambunctious, energetic winger there that coaches would like to have. He gets to the net, bashes pucks, bashes players, and plays with a fearlessness that helps elevate undersized players like him.

The States did bring along a promising group of 2022 and 2023 eligibles, even if they struggled to move the needle this year. Lane Hutson was the most pleasant surprise to me with skill, speed and aggression that I always love to see. If it wasn't Dylan Duke getting my MVP, it would've been Hutson. Isaac Howard and Charlie Stramel are likely to return next year, and I thought they both played well. If Stramel fills out a bit, he could be a heck of a skilled power forward. Rutger McGroarty is a player I've seen quite a bit this year, and he's a big "we'll see" for next year. He's talented, but I didn't see a tremendous amount in this tournament that made me race to put him higher on my priority list for 2022. 

I hope this is just an off-year for the States. Seven players are eligible to come back next year, and names like Cruz Lucius, Seamus Casey, Tyler Duke, Maddox Fleming, and Frank Nazar will be there in 2022, so hopefully they're able to get back to where they've been in the last 20 years.

4. Finland (3-2-1-1)
​Pre-Tournament Rank - 5
MVP: Ville Koivunen

​You want to talk about roller coaster hockey, the Finns brought it. Two enormous comebacks, one against the Russians, and another against the Czechs were not out of character for Finland, and they were a heck of a team to watch. Aleksi Heimosalmi confirmed his status as a legitimate NHL prospect, controversially winning defenseman of the tournament, but he was certainly in that conversation. His skill, mobility, and offensive potential were all on display, and I certainly will be going back to track more of him before the draft. I'm still low on Samu Salminen, seven goals aside. His pace is slow, he overpowers junior competition without a ton of skill or speed, and five of his goals came on power plays. Maybe there's a bottom six player for an NHL team there who you can park in the middle of the ice on a power play, but I'm not fond of the idea of using a high pick on the high-scoring Finnish junior player.

There were a lot of eyes on Brad Lambert, and I do believe he showcased the extremely high end raw talent there, but I can't shake the feeling that he's a player who needs to simplify things a little bit to maximize his overall impact on the game. He can put the puck on his stick and skate a few laps around the offensive zone with nobody able to touch him, but if those chances end up with a spin shot from low or medium danger, you aren't likely to score a ton of goals doing that. Finding linemates with seam passing, and being able to push and pull the flow of your game should be next steps for him, but the talent is undeniable.

​Samu Tuomaala was a player I had my eyes on going into this tournament, and he came away more impressive than I expected. His natural style of play doesn't feel like it would work in the NHL, with tons of speed, and not much in the way of attack-minded offense, but he sure can shoot the puck, and he shot the puck good in Texas this year. I didn't bump him up my list much, but he certainly looks like a curious case for a team to work with over the next few years.

Kalle Ervasti was a case of "I want to see what he can do outside his club team", and while I thought he played okay when he did play, I was disappointed to see him out of the lineup and struggle a bit. I still believe there's a good defensive player there, so if it means you can get him later, I'm for it. Same goes for the other Kalle, Kalle Väisänen. Viljami Juusola showed off his mobility and reminded me I need to go back and track some more of him as well.

People still seem to be undervaluing Ville Koivunen. He's so crafty and intelligent with his awareness of linemates and ability to take care of the puck. His pure offensive finishing ability came out more than I expected, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much of an impact Koivunen had. If he's still a player teams are sleeping on going into the draft, I'm more than happy to pick him up much later than he should go in July.

The Finns only notable returnee is likely to be Joakim Kemell, who had nice moments here and there, but Topi Rönni, Jere Lassila, and Santeri Sulku are all interesting names to keep an eye on for next year.

3. Sweden (5-2-0-0)
​Pre-Tournament Rank - 4
MVP: Fabian Lysell

If there were an award for Most Improved Team, Sweden would be the only contender. They looked completely broken, slow, and generally awful to start the tournament. They struggled against Belarus, played like a national team from Mongolia against Canada, and struggled against Switzerland, but as time went on, more and more pieces began falling into place, and Sweden managed to find their stride when it mattered, pushing the powerhouse Americans out of the tournament, and at least competing with an overwhelming Canadian offense until the 3rd period of their semifinal. It's hard to compete when you can't get a save, which was an issue for stretches of the tournament, but the team struggled to generate clean breakouts, struggled to get pucks inside, and struggled to push pace against competitive opponents. The best and worst bits of Simon Edvinsson were on display, with some awful defensive play early in the tournament closing out defensive rushes and struggling with lateral mobility and relying on his reach to counter speed, but he became more of a two-way threat more and more as time went on.

My biggest takeaway for Sweden is the group of 2022 eligibles that I felt showed more consistently, even if they weren't the most effective players on the roster. Ludvig Persson was an exciting presence that I'll have a close eye on next year, as was Noah Östlund. I expected a serious performance from Elias Salomonsson, and while I wouldn't say he played poorly, he wasn't quite as effective as I expected. The fun-factor potential of Mattias Hävelid also was on display as a mobile puck mover, which I'm always interested in, and he's been impressive in my viewings back in Sweden.

Fabian Lysell, in my view was one of a very small number of players that was out there at least trying to drive play and drag Sweden into being competitive from game 1. He can fly, he's creative, he drove offense well, and I still believe that with patience, there could be a tremendous hockey player in Fabian Lysell. He had trouble consistently driving pucks inside, but so did the entire Swedish team. At this point, I'm not sure what else people need to see out of Lysell to consider him an excellent option for this year's draft, but it still feels as though I'm on an island with my view on him.

Isak Rosén did score quite a few goals, and his release really is something. My tracked data on him puts him as one of the better drivers of dangerous shooting off his own stick this season, and that checks out based on this. He struggled to drive the puck really deep into the offensive zone, but his medium range threat was undeniable. The other high end Swedish draft eligible, Simon Robertsson was... up and down. I'd be lying if I said I didn't expect more from him. It really feels like depending on the night, you could get highly different versions of Robertsson. He played well in the bronze medal game, and did improve as the tournament went on, but this is a player I've seen really take over a game, especially at the junior level, and I didn't see that here. If it means he slips in the draft, so be it. Similar to previous names, I'd be happy to land him later than he should go.

All in all, I was happy to see Sweden continuously improve, and while their semifinal ended with 6 goals against in the 3rd period, I still felt that there were positive things to take hom. The future of hockey in Sweden seems bright, and even though there were hiccups and questionable tactical decisions this year regarding line construction and who was getting ice time, I felt the team got better and rightfully earned a bronze medal with a dominant 8-0 over the Finns.

2. Russia (4-1-1-1)
Pre-Tournament Rank - 3
​MVP: Matvei Michkov

Game 1 against the United States brought back the old adage of "never bet against Russian kids playing hockey". They are competitive, play a full 60 minutes, and they go fast. If they get in your head, it can be hard to get them out. The Russians were largely very impressive this year, but were marked by enormous talent coming in the 2022 and 2023 draft. Ivan Miroshnichenko: Legit. Danila Yurov: Legit. Matvei Michkov: lol. Sergei Ivanov immediately took over in net and looked great. Kirill Gerasimyuk did not have a great first start, and never saw the net again, so that's unfortunate, but I can't see how he isn't worth drafting.

Bringing things back to 2021, I thought Prokhor Poltapov played his best hockey I've seen him play. Tremendous physical resiliency under pressure, great skill in transition, and a daring power winger game that I haven't seen consistently this year. It wasn't enough to bump him into my first round, but he was impressive, and I do think this is a player with a reasonably high floor of talent and could make a nice pickup in the second round. Many who are in this world have been on the Svechkov train, including myself, and this tournament indicated why. He was, to me, tremendous. Second best SAT%, put passes out in front, finished plays himself, and drove offensive transitions with control and pace. There's a lot to like about Svechkov, and a lot of it was on display. More eyes may have been on the flashier Chibrikov, and he was better than I expected going in, with more defensive intensity and involvement than I've seen for large parts of this season. He showed off his skill, and pace that gets snuffed out against VHL and KHL competition often, but it was there. I'm still not as high on him as I am with Svechkov, but he made me check myself a bit for sure.

I don't really know what I can say about Matvei Michkov that hasn't been said already. He's a ruthless goal scorer, with a combination of skill, power, determination, and pure shooting talent that is rare at such an age. I mean, he scored over 30 goals with SKA's top junior team. He's sick. He's going to be a high draft pick, and this was his first real public showing of just how talented he could be. Ivan Miroshnichenko is a guy who I think I will latch onto very, very hard next year with his skill, speed, and dual threat offense. He's so much fun to watch and he'll be one of the first names tracked once hockey gets going next year, Plus, six players are eligible to return next year, so I imagine they'll be just as competitive in 2022.

1. Canada (7-0-0-0)
​Pre-Tournament Rank - 2
MVP: Connor Bedard

Yeah, so, uh, this was a good Canadian team, eh? Ben Gaudreau was great in net for a guy who hasn't played a game all year, and their defense corps were perfectly competent and minimizing chances against, allowing just 12 goals in 7 games, but this was a team dominated by it's offense. Their execution was beautiful, almost every minute they had the puck on the ice. Crisp, tactical deconstruction of sloppy opponents with selfless playmaking that just kept filling nets with pucks. They scored 51 times, and had Shane Wright played in every game, he might've challenged Matvei Michkov's goal scoring lead even more than he did. The guy just has a lightning quick release and can score from almost anywhere. I'm really curious to see how his season with Kingston goes next year.

This is a team that scored 20 goals against the Swedes across two games. They didn't seem to struggle in their gold medal victory, and they constantly kept overwhelming opponents, steamrolling through this year's tournament. I didn't think absolutely everyone on the roster was as dominant as the team as a whole, especially the players with limited playing time this year which is to be expected, but names like Othmann, Zellweger and Pinelli all showed well behind the best of the best on the ice. Mason McTavish and Logan Stankoven definitely showed up, and both should be gone in the first round. One will be because of his tenacity, intensity on the puck, dual threat offense, and projectability, and the other is all of the above, but 5'8", so I expect him to go off the board on day two to some smart team. Brandt Clarke had the great performance I was looking for, and while his performance in the gold medal game wasn't particularly spectacular in my tracking, his control of the game, passing skill, and deception with offensive zone production all showed why he's a top player in this year's draft. I didn't see enough to bump him into my top five, but he is not far off. In fact, he's at 6, and likely locked in around there until July.

And so, we get to Connor Bedard. For anyone not in the loop in the WHL, um, this was a coming out party to say the least. He's a brilliant player who constantly just knows what needs to be done to drive results, and  gets away with a ton. He can skate, he can finish, he can make a play, he's selfless when he needs to, he brilliantly draws in defensive pressure, only to defuse it creatively. There's so much to love about Bedard's game that shows exceptionally brightly for the 2023 Draft. I don't imagine he'll be back, as he's dragging Regina into competitiveness, and likely will continue to do so until he's drafted in 2023.

Closing Thoughts

What a heck of a tournament that was, eh? Some absolutely wild Yeehaw Hockey throughout Outside of my misjudgement of the United States going in, things generally lined up as I expected. The Belarusian team came to play, and played relatively well. A bunch of teams get big time shrugs from me, but the Russians, Canadians, Finns, and Swedes as the tournament went on were all exciting with excellent individual performances scattered throughout. The 2022 and 2023 eligibles were the real standouts, and I'm so, so excited to track those classes.

Congratulations to the Canadians for the gold medal win, congratulations to the Russians for a hard fought, competitive performance with a bright future ahead of them, and congratulations to the Swedes for hitting rock bottom and salvaging a medal out of that experience. I always love seeing teams pick themselves up and get back to their proper form, and they deserve some snaps for that. To close, I feel like it's prudent to hand out awards of my own, so here goes, and we'll finish with my All-Star Team. It felt great to have this tournament back, and I'm already looking forward to both the World Championship in Latvia, the Women's World Championship this summer, and the hopeful return of the Women's U18 tournament in 2022! Thanks to the organizers and media who made it all possible, in case you're reading this, and I already can't wait for next year's event.

MVP: Connor Bedard
​Most Improved Player: Simon Edvinsson
Best Non-Draft Eligible: Connor Bedard
Best Surprise: Prokhor Poltapov
Best Forward: Connor Bedard
Best Defender: Brandt Clarke
Best Goalie: Sergei Ivanov

All-Star Team
Fyodor Svechkov (F) / Connor Bedard (C) / Matvei Michkov (RW)
Aleksi Heimosalmi (D) / Brandt Clarke (D)
Sergei Ivanov (G)