2025 World Juniors Notebook: USA Golden Again

OTTAWA, Ont. – The final day of the 2025 World Junior Championships came. It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. 

Overall, this has been a successful event in Ottawa. The fans were tremendous even as the host country was ousted early. They cheered. They jeered. They came with creative outfits, signs, and plenty of noisemakers. They did their part.

But before we could crown a world champion, Sweden and Czechia had to compete for the bronze medal. 

Bronze Medal Game

Historically, it has not been easy for players to get the energy levels up for the bronze medal game. The sting of disappoint still lingers heavy in the air. 

This iteration was no different. The play was marred by slow-skating, indecision and general lack of emotion. The two teams traded power-play markers with Jakub Stancl (STL) tallying his tournament-leading seventh to open the scoring. David Edstrom (NSH) evened things up. 

The second period saw the energy levels start to ramp up. First, captain Eduard Sale (SEA) found himself all alone in the slot and popped a gorgeous backhand deke upstairs. Sale has been very strong at this tournament after having a difficult time last year. It's a great development for the Kraken who bet big on his silky offensive toolkit but enigmatic effort levels.

The lead was held until Edstrom deflected in his second of the match and fifth of the tournament to even things up with four minutes remaining in the period. The Predators' prospect has been steady Eddie for the entire tournament. No bad games. Consistent. Smart in all three zones. He didn't wow and likely won't ever at the NHL level. But he should be a strong pro in a middle-six role down the line. 

The game could not be decided in regulation or overtime. It then took an incredible 14 rounds of the shootout before Sale finally, mercifully ended it. 

Czechia wins their second consecutive bronze medal. Toss in a silver in 2023 and its and the he first time Czechia has medalled in three-straight years. 

With two assists, Felix Unger Sörum finished the game without a medal but did end up tied for second in tournament scoring with 10 in seven. The Carolina prospect is quiet in his game but consistently makes smart plays, knows how to find open space, and sets it up on a platter for the finishers on the team. 

He has a bright future. 

USA Golden Again

There was a lot on the line in the final match of the tournament. Yes, a gold medal is nice and everything. But if the Americans could pull this out, they would win back-to-back titles for the first time in tournament history. 

Even more important, though, is an whoever took home the title gets to be in a group with Canada and Sweden for the 2026 event in Minnesota. 

But before we could count our chickens, this plucky squad from Finland came to play. They spoke loudly early on. Thanks to an early power play, the Finns took a 1-0 lead off of a sweet passing play finished off by Jesse Kiiskinen. It was a classic Red Wings prospect vs Red Wings prospect as Kiiskinen beat Trey Augustine low glove. 

James Hagens tallied his fifth goal and ninth point of the event to even things up. That point jumped him into a tie for the fifth-most points by a draft-eligible American in the modern iteration of this tournament. 

Hagens has been good but not jaw-droppingly so these last two weeks. He hasn't been able to put a stamp on the top spot of the 2025 class with his play at Boston College and from speaking with scouts and executives here in Ottawa, his play here hasn't done it either. 

“He's been just fine while getting all the best minutes.” one NHL scout told Elite Prospects. 

Down two goals with fewer than three minutes left to play in the second period, the Americans were in danger of letting things slip away. But then, a flukey goal by Brandon Svoboda was followed up by another beautiful snipe by Cole Hutson. 

With that goal, Hutson set a new record for points by an American defenseman at the World Juniors with 11. An incredibly clutch performance all tournament long. 

The third period solved nothing and so for the second time today, we were off to overtime. Except for this one, there would be no record-setting shootout to decide things. The two teams were set to play three-on-three for as long as it takes. 

It took eight minutes before Teddy Stiga played hero after Zeev Buium sprung him with a gorgeous cross-ice stretch pass. 

USA are world champions at the U20 level for the second consecutive year. The first time in the nation's history. Ryan Leonard was named the top forward. Axel Sandin-Pellikka picks up his second consecutive top defender award. While Mr. Showtime, Petteri Rimpinen was named top goaltender. 

The Best Young Coach in the Game 

David Carle has now coached his way to two NCAA National titles and two World Junior titles. At just 35 years old, he is the top young coach in the game. The moment he decides he wants to coach in the NHL, he'll have teams lined up to make him offers

2026 Group of Death

With the 2025 tournament in the books, we now have a clear picture of how next year's groups will shape up. And boy oh boy, do we have a banger on the way. Groups are formed based on the previous year's final standings. Teams 1, 4, 5, 8, and 9 head to Group A. Teams 2, 3, 6, 7, and 10 make up Group B. 

That means, we will have Canada, Sweden and USA together in one group. Said group will henceforth be dubbed The Group of Death.