The Athletic Hockey Show - WJC pre-tournament games notebook, predictions, players to watch, and more

Episode Date: December 23, 2022

On a brand new edition of The Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series, Max, Corey, and FloHockey’s Chris Peters give their thoughts on the World Junior Championship pre-tournament games, discuss what to expect from favorites Canada and USA, as well as Sweden, Finland, Czechia, and Slovakia, make their medal and all-tournament predictions, and more. Subscribe to The Athletic Hockey Show on YouTube: http://youtube.com/@theathletichockeyshowGet a 1-year subscription to The Athletic for $2 a month when you visit http://theathletic.com/hockeyshow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series. Hey, everybody. Max Boltman here alongside Corey Prondman and Chris Peters of Flow Hockey, back with another episode of the Athletic Hockey Show's prospect series, our World Junior preview episode for the tournament. It's going to get rolling here on Boxing Day. The pre-tournament game's underway, but Team USA has completed theirs. And Chris Peters, Team USA, cruised through a couple of games against some of the better competition that you usually see in these pre-chernament games that they roll past Sweden and Finland. What stood out to you in Team USA's pre-tournament run? Did it change how you're looking at this team going into the tournament

at all? You know, I don't think it necessarily changed how I was looking at the team. You know, I think that you definitely want to take pre-tournament results with a green assault. Everybody's kind of getting there, everything figured out. There's a lot of things that are destroyed it. But I think what the two that the USA played showed is that, you know, a team that's kind of formulating their identity and a team that's, that's kind of knows how they want to play. And, you know, we've talked a lot about the fact that they're not going to have a very big blue line, but they need to move pox effectively. They need to jump into the play offensively. You know, guys like Ryan Ufko really stood out and managed to, you know, make plays.

He started playing on their second power play. Lane Hudson was really active and engaged. Luke Hughes had a goal against Sweden. So the defense is actually going to be a big part of the offense for this team. And I think that we knew that going in, but it was to see it in practice. You say, okay, well, maybe this has a chance to work. You know, there's still a lot to be figured out. You know, I think that the goaltending situation is probably largely settled with, with Caden and Barrico looking like the favorite to start. But, you know, Trey Augustine had an okay game against Finland. A couple of the goals that he gave up, not amazing. You know, so I think that that, you know, it's kind of crystallized a little bit. The other thing

that I think is important to note is, as I look at this U.S. roster and I look at top line, second line, third line, fourth line, the drop off between, from the top line to everybody else is pretty significant. And so that is going to be a situation where if a team is able to focus on Logan Coley, Cudder Goet, and Jimmy Snuggaroot and have a chance to slow them down, those other lines are going to have to find a way to step up. Now, they did that in these pre-tournament games, you know, where Charlie Strammel had a couple of goals. Kenny Conner's had a goal. They're getting goals from the depth of their lineup. But it just, but it just, goes to show like, you know, if that top line isn't going in a certain, certain way,

you know, where, where necessarily are the goals going to come from when the games are tougher? Because I think that even though USA scored 10 goals over two games, I'm not taking for granted for, on their behalf, that that's going to be the way it's going to work the rest of the tournament. So, but overall, I think it was a very impressive showing. I think that they, you know, started clicking and they, I thought they were much better against Sweden than they were against Finland the night before, the couple days before. I think you always prefer the wins over the losses, but Chris and I have watched enough of these to know that the pre-tournament is not always a predictor of how the actual tournament is going to go

where the compete level is amped up five levels, and then in the middle round where it's amped up 20 levels. So you want to be a little bit careful. You know, I think I think of a Team USA example from a few years ago where the pre-tournament, Alex Turcott and Cole Cawfield, when the tournament was tournament, when the tournament was a tournament, in the Chuck Republic were just lights out in the pre-tournament. And then the real tournament starred and they can barely get on the ice. I think especially you can kind of go the other way too with your stars. Are they turning it on when the lights are bright is kind of Chris Allude.

The compete ramps up. So it is interesting. I do want to key in on a couple guys though, Chris, with you. The first of whom Luke Hughes, I mean, I think he's going to be the focal point for Team USA throughout this tournament. Where are you seeing out of him and where his game's at right now? Yeah, I mean, he is, to me, he is the most important player for Team USA. I mean, Logan Cooley is going to be a really important guy, but there's nobody that's more important than Luke Hughes.

He's going to play on the power play. He's going to play on the P.K. He's going to play all situations, big time minutes. He is going to get them. He can take a shift over. He can change the game in one shift as well, as we saw. You know, he jumped up into a play. And he's got such subtle burst in his skating. All of a sudden, you know, you don't even notice that he's by everybody. and it doesn't look like it's all that difficult for him to do. In terms of how, you know, he's one of those guys where I think, you know, he was trying a few things throughout the game. You know, puck management every now and again can bite him. His game was a bit of an adventure. Yeah, exactly.

For good and bad. For good and bad, yeah. I mean, like, the thing is, is that, you know, basically this U.S. team has to be really crisp coming out of their zone. And that's something that Luke Hughes, when he's on his game, is going to do really well. And then he's also going to be very involved in the offensive elements of the game. But the thing is, is he is USA's biggest defenseman. He's going to have to defend. He's going to have to be strong.

He's going to have to make sure that he's engaged physically as well. And he's got to stay healthy. You know, that was obviously he was hurt and the quarterfinal went completely south on the U.S. when they didn't have their number one defensemen. So he is a hugely important piece for this team. He's the captain. He is a guy that I think is going to be, I mean, you know, I'm sure he'll play 26, 27 minutes in a lot of these games. and maybe more in some of the more important ones.

So this is going to be a great showcase for the full compliment of what Luke Hughes is capable of. And he's their best offensive defenseman. I think, like you said, he is their best defensive defenseman, too. I don't think in the NHL, that's going to be his role. I think his role is going to be more offensively driven. But you saw a couple of times in those Sweden and Finland games where you thought one of those forwards might have had a step. And it was turning into a dangerous rush. And then with his feet, he just closes that distance against the point.

puck back and everything's good. And, you know, Chris made the point. Like, this is a team that is going to need to rely on, on the back end for a lot of their production. You know, I think seeing some depth scoring the pre-tournament games, probably reassuring. But you do think by the end of the tournament here, you know, Team USA's defensemen are going to have been, if it's a successful tournament, they're going to have been a big factor in the offense.

Chris, are you surprised that one of the defensemen who's probably, you know, is a successful tournament? who's probably having the best one of, if not the best freshman season from production standpoint, Lane Hudson, is not consistently on that power play. It looked like he was kind of rotating in with Uffko on the second power play. Yeah, I think the worst thing that happened to Lane Hudson is Ryan Uffko played really well in his shifts. And so like, you know, but it is, it is surprising because I think that Lane is one of the better playmakers on the team forward or defensemen. You know, so I think that that's, that is surprising. I think Ufco probably gives you a little bit more of a shot threat from the back end than Lane does.

But aside from that, you know, it is going to be, I know a lot of Canadians fans because they were hopping in my mentions throughout that first two pre-tournament games are concerned about usage and things like that. But all I can say is that Lane Hudson is as valuable at five-on-five as any a defenseman that they have just because he is going to be able to get pucks up the ice. He made a lot of nice plays, a lot of pucks to the interior. the fact that he's not on the power play is surprising, but I think Uffko, he had, offco was their leading scorer in the pre-tournament, which, again, it's pre-tournament.

You don't want to, I don't think that'll be a trend that continues, but he was very effective in the top of the point on the second power play. Don't, don't think it's permanent either. I mean, that's the thing is, adjustments have to happen at the world juniors. If something isn't working,

you don't get a lot of time to work it out. And the nice thing is, is that they have pretty much every defenseman that they have, you could put on a power play and would be on a power play in a lot of different situations. But, you know, the Luke Q's, when it's Luke Q's, then, you know, I think UFCO is certainly going to be the surprise guy for a lot of people, it certainly was for me to see him in that role.

But, yeah, ultimately, I think it'll be fine. I mean, you look at that second power play, and the question is like, okay, well, let's just say, take out of FCO for a second, because you can have that debate if you want. Okay, well, who else we're going to take? Well, on the one flank, you got Jimmy Snuggarrood, who's a top five, goal and point score in college hockey right now. The other flank, you have Jackson Blake, who doesn't have that kind of production,

but probably has looked better than Snugglerud has through the first two games. I thought he was one of their best players in the game against Sweden. So, I mean, it's a lot of options. And they obviously know what they have in Hudson. And if one of those guys aren't going, I'm sure he'll get an opportunity at some point. Yeah, for sure. Last thing I want to get to on Team USA here, Chris, is Cutter-Gote. What have you thought of his play so far?

Is he look like a guy who Team USA will be able to really lean on? I think so. I mean, you know, was he spectacular in the pre-tournament? I don't necessarily think that was the case. He did score against Sweden. And I thought that, you know, he did all the things that you expect Cutter-Gote to do where he's, you know, he's getting physical, he's getting the goal-scoring ability going. He's getting a lot of shots.

He is on the first power play on the opposite flank of Cooley. So they obviously want to get him engaged in the power play a little bit more. Basically, I think that that entire top line with Gochie, Kooley and Snuggierood, you know, they have the potential to be, you know, one of the more dynamic U.S. lines in recent memory. Now, they are on the younger side, but they have that chemistry that's already built in from the previous season. And the thing is, is that Kooley plays at such an incredible pace that you have to find guys that can keep up with them. And Gochee and Snuggerud can't. And that's a really great thing.

And I know, you know, if you're a Flyers fan and you're saying, well, they drafted Cutter Goce to be a center. The fact of the matter is, is he's got that built-in chemistry already with those two guys. If it's not broke, don't fix it. And he is going to be a center long term. But for this particular tournament and on this particular team, they desperately need him to be a goal-scoring threat with Logan Coolly and Jimmy Snuggarood and make that top line more dynamic. And I think he does accomplish that. You look at Team Canada. You have Adam Fantilli playing the wing to Logan Stancock and center.

You have got to imagine when they're pro, that's probably the opposite. Yeah, absolutely. I don't think it's such a bad thing either to have a guy flexed out to the wing for a tournament. You know, whether it's going to make a big impact on their career one way or another, I'm skeptical. But it does give you, like you said, kind of that chance to focus on the offense. And I think, you know, if Cutter Gochi comes back from this tournament and he's at a really productive couple of weeks, Philadelphia fans are going to be thrilled about that. Oh, absolutely.

And with the program, like those two would interchange on the face off still and stuff like that. Like there's, and if for some reason Lucius isn't going, they have that option, you know, we'll see how the rest of the tournament goes in. And kind of like Chris Sitt, also like, you know, Goch's been playing center all season at BC and doing it very well. So I don't have a concern about that. Moving into Canada real quick here, Corey, I'm curious. I mean, Canada, we expect to be the best team at this tournament. And they're pre-tournament games.

Obviously, they blow out Slovakia and Switzerland. and I think you're seeing probably what you want to be seeing on the whole from the big names on this team. But what do you take away from what you've seen from Canada so far? Is it just that they are who we thought they were or something else? Just a couple of minor things. Again, you don't want to extrapolate too much from a pre-termine game against Switzerland and even in Slovakia. I mean, though we think they'll have a chance to be a good team at this tournament.

They didn't look good versus Canada. Barely got the 10 shots on goal. The one goal that score was an ungoal by Shane Wright on Van Gogro. a couple of things I took away. That third line, that all Q line, Nathan Gosey between Joshua and Zach Dean, has looked very strong for the first two games, consistent impact from those guys.

In the first game versus Switzerland, I thought that top line, Shane Wright, in between Connor Bedard and Brennan were excellent. They were rolling, right? And Bardard, in particular, were creating a lot really consistently. In the second line of Logan Stankov,

between Annifantilian, Dylan Gentler, I thought was rather quiet. In the second game, game against Slovakia, I thought that was reversed. The first line, I thought, didn't really do that much a consistent basis, even though there was a, you know, a quarter to two around that line. And I thought the Stancovin line was flying. Stancovin and Fantilli especially were creating a lot.

That was one of the best games I've seen Fantilli play all season. And then on the blue line, I thought, you know, game versus Switzerland, what I thought was interesting is that Ryan Clark kind of struggled. But in the game versus Slovakia, you could argue he was the best player on the ice and really create a lot. So, and obviously a lot of really good players in between, I think, not to be surprised in those kind of games, all the players in Team Canada played well to some extent. And got good cold-tending as well in the limited amount of scoring chances they saw.

How reassured are you by the, I mean, obviously you mentioned the own goal. I mean, they didn't give up a goal to the opposition in the two games. Are you reassured by this at all? A little bit. Yeah, I mean, I think with the Canadian goaltenders, they just got to actively not hurt their team, given what they're going to have in front of them. As long as they don't let in the bad goal, the goals are flying over the shoulder

or the unscreated or something like that. If they keep those out of the net, this team will have success. I mean, I guess big picture here for both of you guys. Are we looking at the two teams we just talked about? Are they the two top favorites going into this tournament as things stand? Yeah, I would say.

So I think they're the odds on favorite to be playing on January 5th in the gold medal game. It doesn't mean they will be. things don't always go as planned in the world juniors in a single elimination tournament and you know like i mean they u.s just you know convincingly beats sweden and finland but i've seen many times where a team beat somebody convincingly in the pre-termament and then the real games happen and it doesn't go that way precisely but i think i think these are the two favorites right now to be in the gold medal game yeah and i would say too like you know

part of it is because you know we look at these teams and I think the U.S. team might not be as good on paper as last year's team was. I know Corey and I have actually had, we've argued about that a little bit. It's like, and I argue, I argue they are. Yeah, I think, I think that, you know, I think last year they just had more weapons. They had a better decor. You know, there was a little bit, there's, there's a little bit more to it. And they, they had a great start in the tournament. And we're talking about the summer team or the Yeah, the summer team. The winter team, not close. Sure. Right. The long one of them years in Anderson. I agree. Yeah, yeah, exactly. The summer team, I mean, I just think you, I can't get your

support on. Yeah, I mean, I'm right, but it's either way. So, you know, the thing about it is with, with, with, with, with this U.S. team, you know, they're like the, the quality of the teams, basically, in this entire tournament, there isn't what, like, with the exception of Canada to a certain extent, there isn't one team where you say, well, like, they're flawless. They are, they are, they are completely steady, solid, you know, I mean, and, and, and, and, you look at like Sweden has great forwards and you got Finland has you know something. I'm not sure exactly what they have. This is one of the most weird Finland teams.

We'll talk about them later. But, you know, like they're, I just don't think that the other teams in the in the tournament have that ability to challenge. But as we've seen so many times, like last year with Czechia beating the U.S. in the quarterfinals, that, you know, I think that anything, anything really can. happen. But yeah, so I would agree with Corey. I think these are the two best teams on paper. They have the best, you know, chance to make it to the gold medal game. But, you know, I, every team, every one of these teams has something that could trip them up. And, you know, a lot, for a lot

of teams, it's gold 10. That's just, that's just the way is this is not a strong year for goal 10. All right, gentlemen, let's move on here to a couple of the other top teams every year in this tournament. You know, Sweden is a, is a threat to, to medal. And then this year, they're going to bring a loaded group of forwards. A lot of high picks at the forward group. Notably, though, their blue line, they're going to be missing Simon Edvenson. They're a little banged up.

I wonder, Chris, like, what's your overall view on this Sweden team and what they can accomplish at this term? They don't have Jesper Walsh did in net anymore. I mean, how are you looking at this Swedish team coming in? Yeah, I mean, I think it's definitely they're going to go as far as their forwards can carry them, I feel like.

You know, I think that they have a decent enough decor, but without Edmondson, without, you know, some of the other guys they have injured right now, it's a really shallow blue line. And it's, it's, it's, they can't necessarily play the style that we expect these Swedish teams to play. Think about the, the years where they've had, you know, two, three, four defensemen that they could really rely on. Even last year with, with, with, with, with, you know, they don't necessarily have guys like that on this particular team. So that's going to be a challenge for them. Um, but the thing is is that their forward group is very

talented. They've, they've got a lot of talent up front with, with skill and they've got guys that have played together and have had some. success together. You know, you have to keep in mind, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these two age groups, you know, they knocked off the US at the U18s a couple of years ago in the quarterfinals. They'd also beat the US at the U18 World Championship last year. So these guys have had, you know, success at the top level. So they, they, they have that level of expectation. Don't know if the goaltending is going to hold up for them, but, you know, I look at guys like Leo Carlson. I look at, you know, obviously Liam Ogre and Noah Oslin,

uh, uh, Ocelin, and then also, you know, Lekaramaki and so many others, Philip Bista, they have a lot of different types of players up front that can beat you a bunch of different ways. And so that is going to be their challenge is that they're going to have to have that offensive firepower because I just don't think their blue line is going to be good enough to slow down some of the best teams. But they still, again, they have enough to compete, contend, and they just need to get the saves. They need to hope for a couple stops from their back end. The one thing that they really struggled with in the pre-tournament game against the U.S. was maintaining possession

because the U.S. absolutely trucked them in the possession game. And that was a lot of that, to me, was because their defensemen had a really hard time getting out of their zone. They had a really hard time moving pucks up to the forwards. If the forwards can't get the puck in their hands, they're not going to have a lot of success. So that's going to be the key for them to figure out.

That's reminiscent, though, how those age groups won those important game teams in the U.S. When you walked that gold medal game last spring, U.S. dominated the game of the even strength, but Sweden's power play was better. You look at the way they won. the quarterfinals, I don't think they dominated the U.S. had even strength, but when Liesel and Rosen were on the power play, they did damage.

And I think that's going to be a big part. I don't think they have a lot of size. They don't have, you know, guys who are going to basically knock around the U.S. players, not even U.S., but, you know, the Canadian players, even the Finns. So I think their power play needs to be rolling. They got the one power play goal, but obviously it was not near to enough as they lost six to one in that game. You look at how this team has performed internationally throughout the season at the various

tournaments. I've liked to play a Philip B. Stett and Leo Carlson. They've mesh really well together. They've been, for me, the driving players for this U-20 team at various tournaments during the season, not the Your Garden Trio of Oseland, Oliver and Lekiromach, even though we think it would be really important. So I think Bistead and Carlson are going to be kind of some of the key guys to them. But what they really need, in my opinion, is Fabian Liesel and Isaac Rosen to

to step up. They were, you know, Liesel was good in the summer tournament. Rosen, just okay. Kind of got his ice time cut a little bit. Kind of thought that was the same thing in the game against the U.S. I thought, you know, Lysel scored and I thought he was noticeable. Roseena, I thought it was just okay.

But they need those two guys to be impactful to medal. I don't think they can rely on those younger kids, because those younger kids are not kind of like the U.S. kids where they're top five picks like Kuli Goce, who are really, really high-end players, I think. Osslyn, Lekaramaki, Ogren, Bistet, they're very good players, but I don't know if they can carry a team to a medal by themselves. Both of you guys brought up Leo Carlson,

and Corey had an article that came out Thursday on the athletic, kind of your big questions into this tournament. One of them is Leo Carlson in the same conversation as Conor Bedard and Adam Fantilli. This feels like his opportunity to kind of prove that he's going to be at the same tournament going head to head with these guys. Do you think he's ready to be that? I guess we'll find out. I thought in that one game we watched him play.

I thought he was just okay, frankly. But his international games throughout the season have been very impressive, I think, over the entire season, I think he's first or second in scoring for their U-20 team. And obviously, he's been great in the SHL. And I think he could. Like, he could have a huge tournament,

put up a ton of point, be really impactful at him's strength, win a ton of battles, and maybe show people that he could be a premier power winger or maybe even a center in the NHL. But he's going to need to prove it. And I would say right now he's not in that group, but we'll see where we are in two weeks. Moving on to team Finland, Chris, I mean, obviously I think by now, well documented.

Finland comes correct to international tournaments. At every age group, they are ready to play good structured hockey. They are ready to beat teams that are oftentimes maybe more talented. And that seems like it's going to have to be the recipe for this year's Finland team. I mean, not star-studded prospects necessarily. You got a couple of high picks. Brad Lambert, Yolkin Kamel, the young guy Aaron Kiviyahar, you who we expect to be a high-pick soon here. But I wonder, my main question here, I guess, is about Brad Lambert.

And when you think about the way Finnish teams tend to succeed at these tournaments, it's in this really discipline-structured hockey. When you have a guy like Lambert who can be a game breaker, is that something that's the missing piece and the secret to winning, stealing some of these games then? Or is that something that kind of jeopardize that structured discipline game? Because at times, he is a player for as talented as he is, there can be some head scratchers. Yeah, I would say that for Finland, in the years that they've won this tournament, they've had game-breaking players. They have typically had somebody that was able to break the game for them.

And I think about like even, you know, NHL success aside, Rasmus Ristelianin was that one year for them. Yeah. Tevutera Vinen has been that for them in years past. Patrick Line, you know, Capo-Caco, guys that have that have been able to play outside of that kind of within the team structure, but also have the ability to break the game. So that they not only, they need Brad Lambert to be, to be that because they're not going to be looking to him to be the shutdown forward. They're looking for him to score the goals, be opportunistic, and to drive play for them a little bit. And, you know, you go back to last summer and they couldn't, they couldn't trust them. They couldn't trust them and then they couldn't use him.

And then, you know, he ends up out of the lineup. So I think that he's the kind of guy where he's going to have to be important. But as you're exactly right, Finland wins because of the team game that they play. They win games in the neutral zone. They win games between the faceoff dots. They make it really difficult to get to the interior. But this year, they're not that big, especially on the back end. They don't have a ton of size back there.

They don't have a guys that are the big time stoppers. They're going to be leaning on guys like Aaron Kibhi, how are you, Alexia Hamo Salami, you know, different guys to try and move pucks, get it up to the forwards, try to transition, do all those things get, you know, to be fine. The question is, you know, do guys like Camel and Lambert have enough to, is that enough for them to do it? They have other guys too, like Vili Coyvenin. He should go into this tournament with pretty high expectations to make a significant

happen. Yep, cap and again, you know, guys that can fit into a role, they can play a versatile game, they can help you in a lot of different ways. That's what Finland typically is going to, that's how they're. they're typically going to win. But if they're going to contend with the top teams and that, you know, they're going to get a great test on New Year's Eve against the U.S. when the games matter and the games count, they're going to have to have guys that can be opportunistic and take advantage.

You know, they're often very good at pouncing on mistakes. And we talk about a team like the U.S. where they have to have a decore that's heavily engaged in the offense. You have to make them pay when they make a bad pass. You have to make them pay when they're on the power play and different things like that. So I'm going to be fascinating to see, you know, like, as I mentioned earlier, like, I just don't know what to make of this finish team. I look at them and they're kind of this, this just ball of unmolded clay and I'm like, what are they? What are they supposed to be?

And I bet the coaching staff is wondering the same thing right now. And Brad Lambert kind of has like a heckle and jide element to his game. And you saw the one end of it in the summer where he basically drove himself into the bench. but then you saw the other end of it six months prior in the winter tournament where he looked like he was going to be a rock star and he was carrying that team as a draft eligible

and even the season before the 16th when he was an underage at the tournament he was awesome and then he saw kind of in the pre-tournament game against the U.S. It was more of that virgin you don't like seeing he looks really pretty when he's skiing

to pick up the eyes and they don't really notice him otherwise but this finish team, even though it was not as star-studded as, say, you know, Canada, USA, even Sweden, they played Sweden in November under 23 nations. And they had almost, it was almost the exact same roster. Sweden was missing Rosen and Liesel and Finland was missing Lambert. And Finland rolled them.

It was, I think, six to one and the game didn't even look close. And this team has enough talent to compete. And, you know, I would have probably described the finished team from last summer in the same way. Like, yeah, two rat, too is a good prospect. Yeah, you know, obviously Lambert and Camel played excellent there last summer, but I wouldn't call that a star-studded roster by any means. But yeah, there they are in the gold medal game.

And they came close to winning that gold medal game. They pushed Canada right to the break there. I mean, to the goal lines. Yeah, basically right to the goal line, literally to the goal line. So, yeah. But I, and that's the thing is like, they'll, Finland will just come in with, with low expectations from us on the outside and then they'll just outperform them. That's just what they do. But I think this year will be tougher than most of those other years.

I also do think at a tournament where it seems like for every team we're harping on questions in net, Finland's recipe seems especially tough to execute without like a rock in net, right? Is that fair to say? And I don't think they have that. I think actually I prefer Sweden's goal situation to Finland. So at least Carl Lindbaum has some success in the Afensken level this year. biggest are super athletic so I don't know how he's going to do against you know some of the high-end shooters in this level but I think he's you know a little bit better situated than ask akukoskin vuo who I think he's got two starts this season yeah in Harvard like he's not he's barely playing right now and he's a nice talented big goalie but I'm not saying he's the solution

in that by any means I think that's a kind of theme you're seeing throughout the tournament right now If I told you guys that there was going to be a team in this field, not USA, Canada, Sweden, Finland, who is going to make the Final Four possibly medal? Chris, who is that team? I think it's Chequia. I mean, you know, I actually like, I look at Chequy, and I feel like they're a better team on paper than Finland right now. I think they have a little bit more. The big thing that I really like about Chequy is I think they've got a really good back end.

I think led by David Eurecheck, he's probably going to play a ton of minutes. Stanislav Sozovosal has got a good. a lot of international experience. He's played with Regina this year. I like him. You've got other guys like Thomas Homera, you know, David Spachek. So their blue line is actually pretty solid. I like their group. All sure is going to be a good player. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, like they're, they have, so they have, you know, like basically five, six defensemen where you're like, yeah, I could trust them and I would put them out there against, you know, most guys in this tournament or most teams against this tournament. We probably haven't talked about how good David Yerichick has been

this season enough like that he is. He's killing it right now in the American League. At a point per game, 18 year old defenseman right now. Yeah, it's been remarkable. And I mean, I vote, you and I were obviously really high on him in his draft year. We liked the whole package that he has. He's got the size. He's got offensive ability.

He's putting it all together this year. And I think he's going to play a ton. I don't know if we could backpack ourselves on the sixth overall pick. No, but we both liked them. That's all I'm saying. Yeah. Yeah, but you know, like, but, you know, and I, I think that, yeah, obviously, he's, I'm not trying to pat us on the backs for liking him.

He's a very likable player. But what I would say is, you know, to have a guy like that on the back end that you can say, hey, we can put him out there for 25 minutes. We can get him up against the top defensive lines. We can put him on our power play. He's got a, you know, a lot of weapons with that big shot of his as well. Like there's so much to like about that. And so when you have players like that, it helps.

But it's not just about the D-Core. They also have a really good forward group. You know, Yuri Kulich has been really good in the HL this year. Edward Shala is a top end draft pick for. this year with good international experience. You know, there's a number of really good players on this group. So Paul Hulliv, I think, is going to be a really good player from this level, big, skilled centerman.

You know, you kind of saw at the U18th last spring what him and Shala and Kulich can do together. I think you're going to see them do a lot of damage at this tournament. I mean, Kulich as well, just like I mentioned with Eurecheck, really good in the American League as an 18-year-old. I mean, he's been a leading player for Rochester. You look at their three first round pick, Buffalo's three first round picks from that draft. Where it was Matthew Savoy, Noah Ocelot, and then the third one was here at Coolidge. I'm not so sure he'd be the third of the three picked if you redo that draft right now.

He's had an awesome season. And in a tournament where goaltending is a question. I mean, they have a goalie who we have seen steal a game on the international stage in Tomas Sahanek. So there is kind of some recipe here for what you want to see of an ascending team, I guess, of this tournament. I want to key in on Shala though really quick, Corey, because we've talked about some of the draft eligibles at this event. I'm curious, where does he fit into kind of how the first round is shaping it right now? He enters the year as kind of a consensus top 10 guys. He's still hanging around in that neighborhood? In the neighborhood, but not locked in there. He started

off really well to the season. The last month or two, he's kind of cooled off over there in the Czech Pro League. Obviously, it's playing versus men. He don't want to hold that against him too much. how he does versus his age group, being at the upcoming U-18 world or at this world juniors, will be maybe more relevant information. I still think his toolkit's really unique, big winger, who can skate, very skilled, makes plays, a lot to like. I'm not sure. His stock hasn't really, I would say, elevated, though, this season.

His Holinkogersky was good, but it wasn't great. His overall season was his club team, good, but not great. So I think this world juniors can be really important for him. If he elevates, maybe changes the discussion a little bit. If it isn't, maybe he starts floating to the outside end of that top 10. The other team that I wondered if either of you would bring up in the conversation of who can knock somebody off is obviously Slovakia. And they're a nation that's had a lot of hockey successes recently, right, having the top two picks in the most recent draft. Obviously, Yereoslovsky won't be there.

but still a really talented age group and age range for Slovakia. You know, you look at Simon Nemitz. You look at Philip Meshar, another draft eligible Delibor. Dvorsky could be a big part of this group. How do you see Slovakia, Chris, and how that could factor into this tournament? Yeah, you know, I think that they've got a lot of weapons, which is great. You know, you have to have more than one guy. Now, I would have loved their chances if they had your I, Slavkovsky.

But, you know, he's busy right now, it turns out. So, you know, I think having key players and key positions is obviously always going to be important. Simon Nemich is being the guy that can play big time minutes for them that's played at the Olympics. He's played at the world championships. He's played in the world juniors. He's got all of that experience that is going to help a lot. And he's going to be the guy that they're looking to. All those young guys on that team are going to be looking to him to kind of take over.

But the other thing is that these guys have experienced that success, having a good run at the Holinketkutkie a couple years ago, knowing that they've had some guys in their group that has been part of like Adam C.Core even as a part of their team who played in the world championship. They've got guys that they can look to that have done pretty special things, which I think is really important for them, for the psyche of the team and for the belief that they can contend. Being on the side with USA and Finland is really an opportunity for them, I think that they have a chance, they have a reason to expect that they can contend against those teams

if they get the goal tending and things like that. So, but, you know, I'll leave, I'll leave Corey to talk to the forwards because there are, there are a lot. Like,

and Dvorski is going to be so important. Like, he needs to be a big time player for them to have success. And, and so, and if he doesn't do that, you know, how do we,

how do we kind of look at that in the, in the grand scheme of the draft conversation? But at the same time, like, he doesn't really have a choice. Slovakia needs him to be that good. So, but, yeah, but I mean, I think this team has enough talent to at least threaten. I don't think they have the depth overall to really, like, threaten the same way that Chechia does.

But there's, there's reason to believe that if you're not prepared to play against this team, they're going to get you. Yeah, and their pre-termine had didn't go so well. They lost five nothing to Germany, but they didn't really ice their big players in that game. When they did ice their big players against Canada, they, they skate with them. About 10, 15 minutes before the walls caved in a little there. You know, their big players weren't that good. I didn't really notice Voreski that much. I didn't notice Simon Nemich for many positive reasons to be quite outside the first five,

10 minutes. But again, it is Canada, so you don't want to kill them too much. I, again, I think divorcee can be really important, especially to their power play. But, you know, I think just looking at the players right now, I don't even know if he's the best draft eligible on the black yet. I think Samuel Hansik is really coming. along there. And I think he's a guy who I think both of their draft stocks could be really impacted by how they play at this tournament. Different kind of players, Dvorsky, a power play, skill-driven,

you know, big shot, you know, move the puck around that kind of guy, whereas Hansik's the more traditional 6-4 guy who can skate and it's showing a lot of offense in the WHL right now. I think those are guys whose stock can be really impacted. And I'm really interested to see how Philip Mechar, the Montreal first round pick, plays at the tournament. From my observation, talking to scouts, personally haven't loved him in the OHL this season. He's scoring, but for what he is, he's an offensive guy. I expected a little bit more still his first year in North America, so you don't want to kill a guy too much. But this is an opportunity for him to elevate, have the puck a lot, be the go-to guy on the power playoff, at least on the forefront along with Simon Nemich, and really make a dent.

So I'll be curious to see how his tournament goes. A couple more players I want to ask you guys about, a couple defensemen from countries who we don't expect to be major factors at the meddling at this event. But David Reinhbocker, one of the top defensemen, maybe the top defenseman Corey in the 2023 draft, and Leon Bischel, who obviously worked his way into being a top half of the first round pick this past season. What do we expect to see out of these two defensemen? What's reasonable to see out of two defensemen on teams that maybe aren't going to be built to dominate play? I mean, you kind of saw that with Marco Casper last year, right, where he was a top 10 pick, excellent in the SHL, excellent at the World Championships. But he went on into this tournament for Austria, and I thought he was just okay.

Like, he didn't really, he'd do much because there isn't much of a supporting cast. And coincidentally, he's not going to be at this World Junior either after the, after the Austria elected to not send him and have him focus on being with the national team. So I think, you know, for a young defenseman, Reimbacher is just, it's going to be tough to keep his head above water, but I think you're just hoping to see things with his skating, his puck moving, see signs that could translate to higher levels. And I think you're a goal for those teams.

And it's interesting to say with Switzerland, I mean, the goal is not get relegated right now. And I think for whether they attain that or not, I think it will be success in this tournament. And Bishel, his season has been done. just okay. I, you know, you obviously love the athlete. He's big.

He can really skate. He's really fit strong and physical. I thought versus Canada, he didn't really do much. And again, it is Canada. And I'm not expecting him to be, you know, top scorer and drive the game. But I thought he was just okay. So I'll be curious to see if he could kind of turn it around when the real games get started. All right, guys.

You knew this part was coming. It's time for our. predictions for the tournament. Give me your three medalists and let's get an all tournament team in there too. Oh boy. Okay. I want Corey to go first because I feel like

I'm going to just be contrarian either way. Canada over US in the gold medal game. And I think Finland walks away with the bronze. Even though I think they're not

the third best team on paper. may not even be the fourth best team on paper yeah no i i i think that's totally uh totally fair um i wanted you i knew i knew you're going to bet canada um because i think that's the correct pick um but i'll go with u s a because because uh because uh like watch i'm just waiting to see if if kaden berico has a tournament for the ages and uh you know steals the steels the gold medal right off of of canada's You know, I would say that with Canada being, you know, I think they are the best team on paper and it's going to take an almost perfect game plan to beat them if the U.S. is going to do it. So I'm going to be contrarian and give us a little bit of intrigue here just because I'll be fat.

I just can't wait to see how that game plays out because you've got Canada with their gigantic decor and USA with their minuscule decor and it's like which which side works. And I mean, you know, normally, you know, if so it's. It could be a victory for the small, and I'm not a large person. So I will root for the little guy, I suppose. But yeah, so I'll say USA Canada. And then I'm going to go with the checks. I have a lot of faith in this check team.

I've liked the way that they've played. They need to get the goaltending. Thomas Suhannock is, you know, he's hit or miss. He was a big hit against the U.S., but I think that, you know, they've got the group to do it. And then I guess all tournament team. I mean, Shane Wright and Connor Radar are going to be honest. aren't they, Corey?

Probably, but I mean, Logan Cooley could be on it too. Very true. Well, they only go by forwards for the all-tournament team, so we don't necessarily have to go position by position. I mean, I think those three are on it. I don't know. Could I see one of those three not be on it, and maybe Logan Stancoe makes it?

I could see that happen. Yeah, I can see that too. And I think, you know, in terms, like, for the goalie, I have no, like, I don't know what you, I don't know how to you predict it. Yeah, it is throwing a dart. I think the people at home have a better idea than we do in terms of who the goal of the tournament is going to be. Yeah, I think so.

I'll just say Embarico because I, I'll say Embirico because I predicted that he's going to steal a game from somebody here. Could you see a way where Dylan Genther gets on there? I mean, he is for sure. He's the only full-time NHL forward in this tournament right now. Yeah, yeah, I think absolutely. And, you know, being kind of the focal point of that second line there, you know, it'll be interesting. I mean, the Canada's top six is so good. But he is really a flank on the top power play.

Yeah, so there you go. Then you get the minutes on top of it. So, yeah, and then as far as the D-Corps goes, I mean, I just think that Luke Hughes, if he's not one of the best defensemen in the tournament, the U.S. isn't going to have a chance. Right. I think something's gone really wrong. Yeah, yeah. Luke Hughes would be in that mix.

And then, you know, the debate is which of Canada is, you know, is it Zalweger, you know, I think you're a Czech, Clark. You know, there's a lot of guys that are. that are in there. So, let's say, yeah, Nemmich, you know, like, if, if the, if the, if the checks are in the, in the final four, it'll be because David Eurichick had a heck of a tournament. So I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll go ahead and, like, give my five, uh, skaters, and then we'll just say Eamberico. But I'd say, yeah, Cooley, Wright, Bedard, Hughes, Eurecichick, Embarico. I'm going to say, Cooley, Badd, Stank, Oven.

Ooh. And I'm going to say Hughes, Clark, and then a goaltender, who the hell knows. I'm going to say Thomas Millich. Oh, wow. Wow. So he's got a start, too. That's see? Corey and I have different goalies from the same team for all.

I'm going to go Godro. I'm going to go Cooley, Gantor, Stankovan, Eurechek, Zellweger, Canada. I'm buying the Chequia hype, Chris, with you. Chequia 2 in the silver and the U.S. for Brons. Oh, wow. I love it, Max. I love when you bring the heat on your predictions. There's no risk for me.

No one expects anything of me. So I can do whatever I want. Yeah, and I just basically just said, whatever. I'm just going because I want to be opposite of Corey. So take that for what you will, hockey fans. Don't bet my picks, though. Never bet. I'm surprised when I hear about like the world junior pools that go on

and all the kind of gambling that goes on with with this tournament. I would not imagine this was to be like a gambling event, but I... People will find anything. Yeah, exactly. It's 2022. Everything is a bet now. Absolutely. Bet responsibly, people.

That's how they don't turn on the TV and see a draft king's promoting the first goal in the world juniors. Oh, buddy, you might. You might. Can't wait. Can't wait. That's going to do it for us. Thanks for listening to this episode of The Athletic Hockey Show's prospect series. You can follow us on YouTube at YouTube.com slash at the Athletic Hockey Show.

Catch more of Chris over at Flohockey at his podcast Talking Hockey Sense. And right now you can get a one-year subscription to The Athletic for $2 a month. And you visit Theathletic.com slash hockey show. We'll talk to you soon.