It’s once again time for the annual titanic teenager tourney held on TSN broadcasts (and also NHL network) every year! The Kraken have sent a pretty solid group of their own prospects to the U20 World Junior Championships being held in Gothenburg, Sweden this year, and this will hopefully help you get a good idea of what to look for if you’re absolutely out of your mind these games start at like 2am PT willing to give this sneak peek at the future of the NHL, the world game, and of course, your Seattle Kraken.
What is the World Juniors?
The IIHF U20 World Junior Championships is an international tournament where eight lucky nations determine who’s teenagers are the best at ice hockey in a round robin-then-knockout eliminator tournament. If you think that’s kind of low stakes, I cannot overstate how into it some people get. If nothing else, there might be a Canada game where they mildly struggle and the entire hockey world melts down for 48 hours. No matter what you expect from the games, there’s always a little extra drama that gets lumped on top.
It’s a lot of fun. One of my favorite times of the year!
Which Kraken Prospects are going?
I’ll do you one better. Not only will I tell you the prospects, I’ll also tell you which teams they’re on. That’s a two for one deal.
Team Canada
- Carson Rehkopf – Forward
- Ty Nelson – Defenseman
I’m just gonna be real for minute; if Team Canada, whom a lot of the World Juniors enthusiasts are kind of looking at sideways right now needed to prove something, I think they should’ve kept Jagger Firkus. This team apparently has a lot of people going “I dunno man” when just about every player is in an NHL prospect system or has actually played NHL games this year, and if it was skill that was a concern for the defending champions, then surely the WHL’s most dynamite man wouldn’t have hurt, right? I dunno, Rehkopf and Nelson will absolutely pick up a medal in the next two weeks; it’s just up to the rest of this squad to prove they’re worthy of the crown.
Team Sweden
- Zeb Forsfjäll – Forward for Team Sweden
Forsfjäll has been a steady player in the SHL this year, having 2 points in 22 games. Doesn’t sound impressive? Well, let’s give you some quick perspective; Forsfjäll is tied for thee youngest player on his club in Skellefteå, and he’s the forward of the group they trust. Against dudes maybe 10 or 20 years older than he is. He was nearly a point per game in the J20, so sending him back down there probably isn’t going to teach him anything he didn’t know already. This will be a fine opportunity for him to show on a very strong Sweden squad what he’s made of against his peers. Especially since we’re all kind of looking at Sweden wondering when they’re actually gonna go and win the damn thing; They haven’t gotten past bronze in the past 5 years, and their most recent gold medal is now over 10 years old.
Team Finland
- Jani Nyman – Forward
- Niklas Kokko – Goaltender
Team Finland and Team Canada will likely be your choice for World Juniors Kraken watchin’, but Team Finland needs their Kraken prospects to be impact players just a little bit more. Nyman might be the next big name you need to know for Seattle’s forward corps; Unlike Forsfjäll who has been playing a limited role, Nyman at the tender age of 19 currently holds his team lead in goals at 14 in 22 games. It helps that whatever they’re feeding him in Tampere, he ended up being 6’4 and built like an old country sauna. He’s just one of their high-octane forward group, but he could end up being a big impact player against some of the smaller squads at the rink.
The other Kraken player that Leijonat needs to succeed is Kokko; who’s been set as eternal Liiga contender Oulun Kärpät’s backup goaltender as a mere 19-year old. Kokko’s SV% at that level is nothing special; sitting at a .906 SV% in ten starts of which he has one…well…two of them, but at the international level he’s been much more successful with a 4-2-0 record, but a sub-.900 SV%. He’s gonna need to be the big man in charge regardless; their other options in net are younger and less battle tested than he is, and given Finland’s propensity for bizarrely difficult tournaments, it would help them a lot if he was a rock on which their World Juniors could moor.
What Games should I be interested in watching?
The Schedule is here if you really wanna pick out some games for yourself, but here’s some games that are good watches, high in Kraken prospects…and a little for the sickos.
The Kraken Prospect games
Finland vs. Canada – December 26th
- It’s such an early game in the tourney, but it prominently features a vast majority of the Kraken prospects in the tournament!
Canada vs. Sweden – December 29th
- This is not just a meetup between Forsfjäll, Rehkopf, and Nelson, it will also be one of the last chances on Canada’s schedule to actually struggle or actively lose; Canada has a very easy schedule relatively speaking, with only Finland and Sweden really having much of a chance to catch the Canucks while they’re still vulnerable.
Finland vs. Sweden – December 31st
- I’ll talk about it in the Must-Watch section, but the most important thing you need to know in this section is that Nyman, Forsfjäll, and Kokko will face each other in one of the only genuinely major rivalries allowed to be played in the round robin part of the tournament this year.
The Must-Watches
Sweden vs. Finland – December 31st
- Not only will this matchup feature multiple Kraken prospects, this game is an ancient, classic rivalry of scandinavian neighbors; one of the very few that actually gets to be part of this tournament due to the unfortunate reality of the schedule, and because Canada and the US are in different groups this year. It’s always worth a watch because the games are usually tight, both teams are wildly talented but often in very different ways, and of course, the very best part; both sides loathe each other.
Slovakia vs. United States – December 31st
- I’m sure you’re sitting there going “Slovakia? Really?” and I promise you; this is slowly becoming a game to keep an eye on. Team USA as you might expect is one of the perennial contenders for gold, but has often been quite mortal in the round robin section of the tournament; having slow starts galore and often playing a lot of hero hockey in the final 20 minutes to get the W. Slovakia has turned taking advantage of this to a kind of art: through their last few meetings over the last five years, Slovakia is actually ahead of a much larger nation with far more players and material support, with meetings between the two teams set at 3-2 over the past five years. It will be a great sign for people like me who aren’t terribly impressed with Team USA’s hero hockey antics to see if they’re going to get over that part of their game in order to be good, or in order to just be okay.
For the Sickos
Welcome to my realm. These are the kind of games I love to just check in on every so often. The kind nobody without a deep love of World Juniors and International hockey would dare venture.
Germany vs. Latvia – December 30th
This is here because by all accounts, both of these teams should be heading for the chopping block of the relegation round, which sends them back down to Division 1A for an entire calendar year if they lose during the best of 3 at the end of the tourney. Latvia is a passionate country about ice hockey, but whose passion way outstrips their resources available. Germany meanwhile, was having a moment in the middle of the 2010s of becoming a more than an also-ran who occasionally were promoted and relegated bi-annually. Unfortunately, Latvia is now one of the slowly building teams, and Germany’s pipeline appears to be at a drip feed for the time being. That bodes very ill for a country that is in a group as tight and difficult as Group A, and so Latvia gets a chance to potentially have one of their best tournaments in years, whereas Germany may find themselves on the wrong side of the relegation games.
Switzerland vs. Norway – December 30th
A lot of what I said in the above preview applies here, only so much harder. Switzerland has been part of the top division of the tournament since near the beginning of it, and while it has had it’s ups and downs, the Swiss here are as vulnerable as they are ever going to be. Norway meanwhile, is largely here due to one kid and only one kid; Michael Brandsegg-Nygård of the Swedish team Mora IK. Brandsegg-Nygård is the hope of Norwegian hockey; expected to be a first round pick in the upcoming 2024 draft, and while the team around him may not be nearly as good as the rest of the group, they could in theory surprise if he can get going specifically on the day they play one of the old guard as they’ve entered a prolonged twilight.
What Channel is all of this on?
It’s typically on NHL Network in the states, and TSN in Canada. If you have TUBI, you should also be able to get your hands on the TSN broadcast.
And with that? You’re ready to watch the World Juniors if you’re itching for some Kraken-adjacent hockey in-between Seattle’s games this week!
We at DJLR wish all the Kraken Prospects the best, and for all of them to go for gold!
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