Hagens, Martone, Schaefer among top 2025 NHL Draft prospects to watch at World Juniors | NHL.com

The 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship is scheduled in Ottawa from Dec. 26-Jan. 5. Today, we look at some 2025 NHL Draft-eligible prospects to keep an eye on during the tournament.

James Hagens of the United States, and Porter Martone and Matthew Schaefer of Canada not only are projected top picks in the 2025 NHL Draft but are expected to play significant roles for their teams during the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship.

“It’s always such an honor to put your country’s logo on your chest and you can’t take it for granted,” said Hagens, a freshman center with Boston College. “You have to go out there, give it your all and especially seeing that the team went over and won gold last year, you just want to help as much as possible to bring home gold again.”

The United States won the 2024 WJC, capping a 7-0-0 run with a 6-2 win against Sweden in the gold-medal game.

Canada, which finished fifth at the 2024 WJC, will join the U.S. in Group A in the preliminary round, along with Finland, Germany and Latvia, with games played at Canadian Tire Centre. Group B consists of Czechia, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland, and will play games at TD Place.

“You dream of playing World Juniors since you’re a little kid, and to have the opportunity is very exciting,” said Martone, who is the captain with Brampton in the Ontario Hockey League. “And you know what? I’m just willing to do anything to hopefully crack the lineup and help the team win a gold medal.”

The top four teams in each group will play in the quarterfinals Jan. 2. The semifinals are Jan. 4, and the gold-medal game and bronze-medal game are scheduled to be held Jan. 5 at Canadian Tire Centre.

Games will be broadcast on NHL Network in the U.S., and TSN in Canada.

Here are nine 2025 draft-eligible players to watch during the 2025 WJC (listed alphabetically):

Vojtech Cihar, LW, Czechia

Cihar (6-foot, 175 pounds), a B-rated skater on NHL Central Scouting’s players to watch list for December, has seven points (three goals, four assists) in 25 games with Karlovy Vary in Czechia’s top professional men’s league. The 17-year-old left-handed shot is an excellent skater capable of playing a mature, two-way game.

“He has good straight-away speed and acceleration and first-step quickness,” NHL Director of European Scouting Jukka-Pekka Vuorinen said. “He’s responsible in his defensive play and is ready to eat pucks. He often plays net-front on the power play, has great hands, is active and alert and shares nice passes.”

Victor Eklund, RW, Sweden

Eklund will get to do something his older brother and role model, San Jose Sharks forward William Eklund, never experienced — playing for Sweden at the World Junior Championship. Victor Eklund (5-11, 161) is slight in stature but has a good work ethic, a quality he learned from William, the No. 7 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.

Victor Eklund has 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in 23 games with Djurgarden in the Sweden’s second division.

“He’s the guy you can’t leave alone in front of the net,” Vuorinen said. “Technically he needs to improve his skating, but he has good speed and I like his attitude and willingness to score.”