Ottawa is hosting the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship through Jan. 5, including eight Seattle Kraken prospects on four of the tournament teams. Each morning, we’ll list the schedule of games involving Kraken draft choices, as well as results of games played the previous day, with a focus on Seattle prospect achievements.
Jan. 2 Games Involving Kraken Prospects
Kraken prospect teams in bold. All games televised by NHL Network. Pacific time used.
- Quarterfinal 1: Sweden vs. Latvia, 9 am
- Quarterfinal 3: Finland vs. Slovakia, 2 pm
- Quarterfinal 4: Czechia vs. Canada, 4:30 pm
Dec. 31 Results Involving Kraken Prospects
Note: No games were played on New Year’s Day. Team records in parentheses.
(3-0-1) USA 4
(2-1-1) Canada 1
(4-0-0) Sweden 4
(3-1-0) Czechia 2
(3-1-0) Finland 3
(2-2-0) Latvia 0
Kraken Prospect Highlights
Team Canada: The headline to the IIHF game story (a 4-1 USA victory) called Canada “undisciplined,” a nod to three USA power play goals. The story itself pointed to missed Canadian opportunities. “Canada’s snake-bit offence could be divided into three categories – they shot wide; they passed when they should have shot; (USA goalie Trey) Augustine was sensational (38 saves).”
That “snake” has bitten Berkly Catton especially hard. He led Canada with six SOG, and has amassed 22 in four games, with zero goals to show for it. He played 14:36.
The middle period was especially unkind to little-used Kraken prospect Carson Rehkopf. He took an interference penalty, and 1:22 after exiting the box he went right back in for tripping.
Rehkopf (#16 celebrating at right) did manage three shots in 10:36 of ice time. He also screened the USA goalie, directly impacting Canada’s only score.
Being shorthanded seven times kept defenseman Caden Price hopping in his 18:42 on ice, with two shots.
Team Sweden: Zeb Forsfjall for once had a quiet offensive game, one shot in 15 minutes on ice.
Team Czechia: Eduard Sale shined in a losing effort. The captain took a whopping 10 of Czechia’s 30 shots. In the first minute of the 3rd period, he was slashed on a breakaway. Awarded a penalty shot, Sale scored his 4th goal of the WJC, tying him for the tournament lead.
Count Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis among those impressed. “Sale had another a solid night; he was in and around the net and was active in many offensive situations. Sale then made no mistake on the penalty shot. Hard to be disappointed with the way he played throughout the round-robin, living up to the high expectations.”
As with Canada, penalties bedeviled Czechia, which Sale addressed after the game. “It’s tough after this game to say something, because we had so many penalties. They are a great team, and they have a great power play. We had, like, seven PK (situations), so it was too much in this game.”
Team Finland: Forward Julius Miettinen had one shot in 12:29 on ice. He’d previously caught the eye of Daily Faceoff’s Ellis: “Miettinen was a buzzsaw out there. I liked his game through the middle of the ice, in particular. He was quick, had an active stick, and battled hard around the net. He needs to work on his faceoffs a bit more.”