With the World Junior Championships ending just over a week ago, who were the top players in the tournament for each team? This is what I think:

 

Team USA-Cole Hutson (LD, Property of WSH)

 

Honorable Mentions: Ryan Leonard (RW, Property of WSH), Zeev Buium (LD, Property of MIN)

 

Cole Hutson, while not very physical at all (was never expected to be) and having a couple of frustrating defensive moments throughout the tournament, he more than made up for it with other aspects of his game. He was electric in the offensive zone and sound for the most part in the defensive zone, especially during the medal round. Hutson had multiple big moments throughout the tournament including making a nice pass to the slot, setting up Danny Nelson to score what ended up being the winning goal against Canada and scored the tying goal to send the gold medal game to overtime. The undersized Defender produced 3 goals and 8 assists in USA’s gold medal run and was the first Defenseman to ever lead the under 20 world junior champianship in scoring. 

 

Team Finland-Petteri Rimpinen (G, Undrafted)

 

Honorable Mentions: Jesse Kiiskinen (RW, Property of NSH), Jesse Nurmi (LW, Property of NYI)

 

Petteri Rimpinen, who was selected as the best goalkeeper in the tournament, was a huge part of Finland’s success. He was dominant in the preliminary round, averaging under 2 goals against and while he allowed more goals in the three games following the preliminary round he was still very good. Rimpinen finished with a .933 Save %(2nd), a 2.34 goals against average (2nd), 5 wins (1st) and 238 saves (1st).

 

Team Czechia-Eduard Sale (RW, Property of SEA)

 

Honorable Mentions: Jakub Stancl (C, Property of STL), Michael Hrabal (G, Property of UHC)

 

Eduard Sale got hot as the games went on and the competition got harder. He had many big moments including 2 goals and the winning one against Slovakia, an impressive penalty shot goal, scored a huge goal with 3 seconds left in the first period in their quarter final upset against Canada, and even the bronze medal clinching shootout goal against Sweden. The speedy winger scored 6 goals and 2 assists in 7 games. His 6 goals were good enough to tie for the 2nd most only behind teammate Jakub Stancl.

 

Team Sweden-Axel Sandin-Pellikka (RD, Property of DET)

 

Honorable Mentions: Tom Willander (RD, Property of VAN), David Edstrom (C, Property of NSH)

 

Axel Sandin-Pellikka was great, being awarded as the top defender in the tournament and being tied for the 2nd most points. He had 4 goals and 6 assists in 7 games, including his hat trick in 5-2 win against Slovakia.

 

Team Canada-Carter George (G, Property of LAK)

 

Honorable Mentions: Oliver Bonk (RD, Property of PHI), Tanner Molendyk (LD, Property of NSH)

 

Canada was very disappointing for a second year in a row but Carter Geroge’s performances where the opposite. He kept Canada in games long enough where they struggled to score in. George finished with the best Save % (.935), Goals Against Average (1.76), and most shutouts (2) through four games played.

 

Team Slovakia-Dailbor Dvorsky (Center, Property of STL)

 

Honorable Mentions: Maxim Strbak (RD, Property of BUF), Juraj Pekarcik (LW, Property of STL)

 

Dailbor Dvorsky was a huge part of Slovakia’s offense all tournament. Outside of Dvorsky’s line Slovakia did not generate many goals. He finished with 5 goals and 4 assists in 5 games, including 4 points in a 5-4 overtime win against Kazakhstan.

 

Team Switzerland-Eric Schneller (RD, Undrafted)

 

Honorable Mentions: Leo Braillard (RW, Undrafted), Kimo Gruber (RW, Undrafted)

 

While Switzerland’s success was limited, Eric Schneller had a solid showing. Schneller showed some impressive offensive skills throughout the tournament. While he occasionally made mistakes away from the puck, most of Switzerland’s other defenders made more. In Switzerland’s only win where they defeated Kazakhstan 3-1, he had 2 assists including a nice one-touch pass to the high slot where he collected a primary assist. He finished with 1 goal and 2 assists in 5 games. 

 

Team Latvia-Linards Feldbergs (G, Undrafted)

 

Honorable Mentions: Eriks Mateiko (LW, Property of WSH), Olivers Murnieks (LW, 2026 NHL entry draft eligible)

 

While Eriks Mateiko’s performance in the matches were very impressive, averaging a goal a game I have to give the slight edge to Linards Feldbergs for his excellent performances between the pipes. He was best in Latvia’s historic upset against Canada where he made 54 saves and stopped all 8 of Canada’s shootout attempts. He was also phenomenal in their quarter final 3-2 loss against Sweden where he kept Latvia in the game making over 45 saves. Even though they came up short, the performances of Feldbergs and Mateiko, leading the way in a historic win against Canada and almost upsetting Sweden to advance to the semifinal round is a great story. Feldbergs ended the event with an impressive .929 Save % and was consistently very good throughout the tournament.

 

Team Germany-Julius Sumpf(C, Undrafted)

 

Honorable Mentions: Linus Vieillard (G, Undrafted), Edwin Tropmann (RD, Undrafted)

 

With how forgettable Germany’s was this year, Julius Sumpf’s impressive performances have been overlooked. Throughout the tournament he played a good all-around game and came up big in the relegation match where he scored the winning goal and had 2 assists. In 5 games he scored 2 goals and 5 assists which is very good considering how much Germany struggled to score.

 

Team Kazakhstan-Beibarys Orazov (RD, Undrafted)

 

Honorable Mentions: Kirill Lyapunov (LW, Undrafted), Asanali Ruslanuly (LW, Undrafted)

 

Beibarys Orazov was one of the few bright spots for Kazakhstan this year. Throughout the tournament he was solid defensively and productive offensively. He was only a -1, and considering how bad Kazakhstan was and how much ice time he received that is very impressive. In 5 games Orazov scored 4 assists.