2025 World Juniors standouts and disappointments: USA’s top talent shines, Canada’s falls short again

OTTAWA — The 2025 World Juniors concluded Sunday with USA beating Finland 4-3 in overtime to win their second straight gold medal. I conclude our coverage of this tournament by looking at who stood out on the ice (and who didn’t) over the course of the last 10 days.

I’m evaluating these players today with a lens on how their tournaments shaped my perception of them as NHL prospects. What does that mean? It means I’m not going to make a big deal of a 19-year-old 6-foot-1 goalie having the week of his life. While it’s a nice story, I’ve seen that movie before and it doesn’t usually end in the NHL.

Standouts

Zeev Buium, LHD, USA (Minnesota)

Buium didn’t get the points his teammate Cole Hutson did, but he was clearly USA’s best defenseman and a guy they leaned on to play massive minutes in the important games including a 30-minute performance in the semifinal against Czechia. Buium’s talent is obvious. He’s an outstanding skater with a high skill level and great hockey sense. He makes so much happen around the puck, but what I was also impressed by was his defending. There weren’t many chances going against USA when he was on the ice, showing a compete level that some NHL scouts questioned going into last year’s draft.

Jesse Kiiskinen, RW, Finland (Detroit)

Kiiskinen was full of big goals for Finland in this tournament. He’s a skilled player who can finish, but what makes him endearing as a pro prospect is the pace and work level in his game. He can shoot from range, but looks to finish at the net and is constantly around the puck. He’s not that big, but he plays in a way that gives him a chance to make it to the NHL.

Victor Eklund, RW, Sweden (2025 draft eligible)

Eklund was quite impressive for Sweden especially given he’s a draft eligible in this event. Like his older brother and San Jose Sharks forward William, Victor displayed tremendous skating, skill and pace in his game. His energy level was also very high, constantly engaging physically and competing to get to pucks first. Despite his size and age, he was a driver at even strength and an important part of Sweden’s top power-play unit. He looked like a potential top-10 pick in the upcoming NHL Draft.

Vojtech Hradec, C, Czechia (Utah)

Hradec was arguably Czechia’s most important forward; he was their minutes leader and played in every situation for them. A sixth-round pick by Utah last summer, he intrigued going into the draft due to his athletic tools: He was big and fast and showed flashes of skill. His game has developed very well. He was a top scorer for Czechia, showing good small-area skills and playmaking and a detailed two-way game. He looks like a legit NHL prospect currently.

Cole Hutson, LHD, USA (Washington)

Hutson was a leading player for Team USA in this tournament. That wasn’t supposed to be the story. He was supposed to sit behind Buium, who was going to be the guy USA leaned on, and pick up a few points. Next year would be Hutson’s year to lead this team. He wasn’t their ice-time leader, but he was certainly their offensive leader in the tournament. Hutson was a dynamo around the puck consistently. With his great skating, skill and offensive IQ, he made a ton of plays and was constantly giving opponents trouble with his rushes, blue-line movements and playmaking. His size is a concern for the NHL, but I was very impressed by how mobile he looked versus good players and think he’ll be able to survive at higher levels defensively.

Ryan Leonard, RW, USA (Washington)

When you think of competitiveness, watching Leonard over the past week was that in spades. He was USA’s engine, giving it his all on a nightly basis with his pace, skill and especially his physical play. He was all over the puck when he was on the ice, being a nuisance on the forecheck and backcheck while also being involved in a ton of chances. He broke his nose and kept on playing the same way.

Danny Nelson, C, USA (New York Islanders)

Nelson was a very important part of USA’s team as the second-line center. He drove the play on a highly effective line at even strength, got critical points for them during the tournament and was a great defensive forward. He’s a big, hardworking center who doesn’t shy away from physical play. He’s also a good skater with some touch and ability to score. He checks a lot of boxes and looks like he will be an NHL player.

Axel Sandin Pellikka, RHD, Sweden (Detroit)

ASP was the driver of Sweden’s team and offense. Just like in the SHL, he was expected to make a lot of plays and score a lot of goals for this Sweden team while playing big all-situation minutes. He did that successfully. I wouldn’t say he was full of highlight reels, and in that way, he reminds me a lot of a former Detroit Red Wings defender, Filip Hronek, in how I think his game could translate to the next level. He isn’t very big, but he plays hard and doesn’t shy away from using his body to make stops.

Matthew Schaefer, LHD, Canada (2025 draft eligible)

How good Schaefer looked in the pre-tournament and first four periods of regular tournament play can only be further emphasized by how much Canada fell into shambles following his injury. Schaefer looked dynamic with his skating, rushes and playmaking to go with strong, physical defensive play. He looked the part of a potential No. 1 draft pick.

Jakub Stancl, RW, Czechia (St. Louis)

Stancl had a big tournament, scoring a lot of important goals and being a major part of Czechia’s offense. His skill level is quite high for a guy his size, and he made a lot of plays. His skating is just OK, and his previous season in Sweden didn’t go that well. He has rebounded very well this year in the CHL and now at the World Juniors. He looks like a player with a legit chance to be a bottom-six forward.

Felix Unger Sorum, RW, Sweden (Carolina)

It felt like the puck was glued to Unger Sorum’s stick whenever he was on the ice. He was clearly the most important forward offensively for Sweden, making a ton of skilled plays with the puck. I wish he shot the puck a bit more, but his playmaking is excellent.

Petteri Rimpinen, G, Finland (2025 draft eligible)

Rimpinen was the most valuable player at the World Juniors. He carried an at times average-looking Finland squad to the gold medal game with numerous big-game performances. Rimpinen is a re-entry draft eligible who was passed over in part due to his 6-foot frame. That issue remains and I can’t say he’s a true top NHL prospect, but other than his frame, he has a lot of the traits NHL teams look for in a goalie. I think he could be drafted this summer and he has a chance to play NHL games.

Disappointments

Team Canada

I was tempted to list about 10 different Canadian players, but it makes sense to group their collective disaster of a tournament together. Be it players like Jett Luchanko, who broke camp with the Philadelphia Flyers this fall, providing almost no offense; reigning OHL MVP Easton Cowan (Toronto) looking lost at times with the puck; two-point-per-game top 2025 draft prospect Porter Martone struggling with the pace; AHLer Bradly Nadeau (Carolina) being a passenger most of the tournament; or the two London defensemen, Oliver Bonk (Philadelphia) and Sam Dickinson (San Jose), being very ordinary after torching the OHL — and there were plenty of other names to list — it was a tournament of disappointments for Team Canada.

The tournament in general

When you watch the World Juniors, you’re hoping to see the NHL stars of tomorrow. I can’t say I saw a lot of that in this tournament. When watching the medal round games, I didn’t see a ton of players on the ice I felt confident could be top six forwards or top four defensemen in the NHL. Sure, there were some, specifically on Team USA, but this was a pretty vanilla tournament on a pure talent level. Numerous players had good tournaments, but I didn’t feel there were many outstanding performances.

That partly ties into Canada’s disappointing tournament, as they do have some of those names, but they didn’t have a good week. This is also an excellent age group for Russia but the federation remains banned from IIHF competition.

It wouldn’t be a World Junior article without a roster projection, so I finish coverage of the 2025 tournament by looking ahead to the 2026 tournament and what I think Team Canada and Team USA could look like.

(Illustration: Will Tullos and Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Photos of Axel Sandin Pellikka, Ryan Leonard and Petteri Rimpinen: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)