National team rosters for the 2024 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship have started to emerge in recent days, and it seems the Seattle Kraken prospect pool will be well represented.
Here’s your preview of the upcoming holiday tournament with a focus on these players with local ties.
A World Juniors primer
The 2024 World Juniors will take place Dec. 26 – Jan. 5 in Gothenburg, Sweden. In the United States, World Juniors games will be broadcast on NHL Network.
For teams that hold selection camps before determining their final rosters, those typically begin about two weeks before the first game. Team USA’s camp opens on Dec. 14, for example. We may have the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the players in exhibitions leading up to the tournament, which are sometimes available via online streams.
This year’s contest is the 48th edition of the World Juniors. It is the seventh time that Sweden will be the host. Team Canada enters the tournament as two-time defending champions, but in some corners, they are not considered the favorites in this year’s contest.
What is the big deal with the World Juniors?
Why do some hockey fans celebrate the WJC as the highlight of their hockey calendars? Put simply, it’s the best international hockey competition going. The NHL and other stakeholders are working to secure the return of adult best-on-best competitions in a “World Cup” format and at the Olympics, but those conversations have often led to disappointment in the past. In contrast, the World Juniors has endured.
How does the tournament work?
For the uninitiated, the World Juniors is a 10-nation men’s hockey tournament for under-20 players. A player still qualifies as “under-20” so long as his 20th birthday falls during the year of the tournament’s final game. (In other words, anyone born in 2004 or later is eligible for this 2024 tournament.) Teams can bring a roster of 23 players, plus two extra non-roster players in case a replacement becomes necessary.
The 10 teams are divided into two five-team groups in a “Preliminary Round.” This year, Group A includes Canada, Sweden, Finland, Germany, and Latvia. Group B includes the United States, Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Norway.
After a round-robin series, the top four teams from each group advance to the “Playoff Round.” The top four placed teams from the Preliminary Round will play a crossover quarterfinal game: 1A vs. 4B, 1B vs. 4A, 2A vs. 3B and 2B vs. 3A. Semifinals are then determined by ranking criteria, as described on the World Juniors website. Semifinal losers meet in a Bronze Medal game; winners meet in the Jan. 5, 2024, final.
The fifth-placed teams from the Preliminary Round square off in a “Relegation Round Series,” which is a best-of-three series. The winner remains at the WJC level for the 2025 World Juniors. The loser is relegated to 2025 World Championship Division I Group A–a parallel, lower-tier tournament. The winner at that level is elevated to play in the 2025 World Juniors.
You can find the full game schedule, including local broadcast times, here. Early notable games to circle include Finland squaring off with Canada at 5:30 am PT on Dec. 26, the United States and Czechia at 8:00 am PT on Dec. 29, Canada versus Sweden at 10:30 am PT on Dec. 29, the United States against Slovakia at 3:00 am PT on Dec. 31, and Sweden taking on Finland at 5:30 am PT on Dec. 31.
Team Canada
Teams are allowed to bring 25 players to the tournament itself, but some nations will invite more players to a pre-tournament camp in order to make final evaluations and prepare additional players in case of injury. Team Canada announced 30 camp invites on Dec. 5, including Kraken prospects Jagger Firkus, Carson Rehkopf, and Ty Nelson. Team Canada’s Selection Camp opens on Dec. 10.
With five cuts yet to come, let’s take a look at the players with local Seattle ties who are likely to be on or off the Canadian roster.
Very likely in: Jagger Firkus
Firkus, 19, is a right-shot winger, drafted by Seattle at No. 35 overall in the 2022 NHL Draft. After two seasons averaging more than a point per game, Firkus has taken his play to the next level this year for the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL. Firkus is in the top three in the WHL in goals and points, having delivered a litany of highlight-reel plays for the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Last week Kraken coach Dave Hakstol was asked about Firkus and intimated that Firkus the forward entered the year with the goal of making the Canadian World Juniors Team. When asked about Firkus’s progress, Hakstol said: “The lasting [impression of Firkus] for me is improvement from one year to the next. You see that from training camp to training camp. Going back this year to Moose Jaw and having the opportunity to be a premiere player, he’s taken advantage of that.”
Firkus has the full offensive skill set to be a difference maker at the junior level: instincts, vision, stick skills, and a heavy, accurate shot that he can manipulate at will. His defensive game is not quite as advanced, but he is sound positionally and has skated as one of Moose Jaw’s top penalty killers for a while now.
His limitations relate to his size–and lack of high-end speed for his size. While sturdier competition at the professional level may be able to take Firkus out of a play, I don’t expect that to be much of an issue for Firkus at the World Juniors.
Both Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler of The Athletic project Firkus on the final roster and playing in a middle-six role. When the World Juniors roles around, a disproportionate amount of my focus will be on Firkus and the next player on this list.
Very likely in: Carson Rehkopf
Rehkopf, 18, is a left-shot winger drafted by the Kraken No. 50 overall in the 2023 NHL Draft. Similar to Firkus, Rehkopf has taken a leap forward in his junior level production this year with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL. He currently leads the OHL in both goals and points.
This production moved up Rehkopf’s timeline for World Juniors consideration. Typically, the tournament is dominated by 19-year-old players. 70 percent of the players on Team Canada’s 30-man roster are in their age 19 season. Rehkopf is among the minority of underage players with a chance to take the ice in Gothenburg.
So what does Rehkopf bring? Unlike many of Canada’s forwards, Rehkopf brings a bigger frame (6-foot-2, 194 pounds) that can hold up along the walls and at the net front. That said, Rehkopf is also a highly skilled player. He has a heavy, accurate wrist shot that jumps off his stick with ease. This year, he has taken leaps forward in his playmaking ability and skating to free himself on cycles and breakaways. As a result, there are few holes in his offensive game at the moment.
While Rehkopf has been a center for Kitchener, he is still developing as a two-way player and brings little value on the face-off dot. So Team Canada would likely use him on the wing.
Though Wheeler and Pronman were divided on the topic earlier in the fall, now both agree that Rehkopf will make Team Canada’s roster and will play. Given his unique traits, I too think he has a strong chance to make it.
Toss-up: Ty Nelson
The blue line may see the most competition at Team Canada camp. Hockey Canada invited 10 defensemen to camp, which suggests there may be two (or more) cuts from this group.
Ty Nelson, 19, was a third-round Kraken draft choice, No. 68 overall, in 2022. Nelson is a stout, physical player who defends well and wins board battles at the junior level. He has some risk-taking tendencies as a puck-mover, but that’s because he trusts his skill. He’s an asset on the power play working either from the point or the left circle in two-defensemen formations, where he deploys his dangerous one-timer.
His prospects to make the team likely hinge on how much offense and power play production Team Canada believes it needs from the lower-half of its blue-line depth chart. Right now, Scott Wheeler has Nelson on the team and playing, while Corey Pronman has Nelson missing the 25-man cut. Nelson’s prospects are probably 50-50 at this point.
Out: David Goyette
Kraken prospect David Goyette was included in a larger group of players invited to Team Canada orientation meetings over the summer, but he did not make the cut of top-30 players for camp. This was certainly a disappointment for Goyette, who is in his last year of age eligibility and pushed his production in the CHL even higher this season.
Goyette faced staunch competition for a spot as Canada is flush with smaller, playmaking top-nine forwards, and Goyette does not bring a fourth-line checking profile or true high-end center skills. Unfortunately for Goyette, Hockey Canada preferred players like Firkus.
Goyette is not the only player of his profile left home. Bradly Nadeau and Andrew Cristall, just to name two, are both smaller, high-end scorers also left off the roster.
Out: Shane Wright
Believe it or not, even after his leading role as captain of the 2023 World Juniors team, Wright remains eligible for the 2024 team due to his January, 2004, birthday. Given a dearth of true center depth, Team Canada would surely have loved to have the captain return. However, the Kraken are not making Wright available this year. And, to be honest, we’d be surprised if Wright were interested in going. He won a gold medal last year, and his focus is on getting his professional career on track.
Wright joins a star-studded list of eligible-but-absent Canadian forwards, including Connor Bedard and Adam Fantilli. For many, these lineup holes drop Team Canada to either second or third in the World Juniors power rankings.
(Bonus) Very likely in: Scott Ratzlaff
Seattle Thunderbirds goalie Scott Ratzlaff has a strong chance to make Team Canada’s 25-man roster, at least as the third goaltender. Both Pronman and Wheeler project Ratzlaff to beat out Samuel St.-Hillare for this role. Losing Ratzlaff for a month would be a tough blow for the Thunderbirds, but it would mark back-to-back years a Thunderbirds netminder has made Team Canada at the World Juniors. Former Thunderbirds goalie Thomas Milic emerged as the primary goaltender for the 2023 gold medal team.
Team Sweden
Team Sweden announced its 23-man roster for the World Juniors on Wednesday. This group isn’t subject to any further paring during a pre-tournament camp; it’s the team Sweden will bring to Gothenburg. One Kraken prospect is on the list.
In: Zeb Forsfjäll
Forsfjäll, 18, was a sixth-round draft pick of the Kraken in 2023. The small, left-shot center has played much of the last two seasons for Skellefteå AIK of the SHL–the highest-level professional league in Sweden.
His game is “hard to play against,” and he has filled a checking role for AIK. While Forsfjäll has only logged somewhere around 10:00 time on ice per game and accumulated only three goals in 39 total SHL games, AIK has kept him active since his arrival, which speaks to the value of Forsfjäll’s worth ethic and tenacious play.
I got a chance to watch Forsfjäll closely at the World Junior Summer Showcase in July, and I saw a highly mobile, defense-first centerman who was not only relentless in his puck pursuit but skilled in navigating the neutral zone with the puck on his stick. He brought energy and defensive talent to the penalty kill as well.
At the time, I said I “highly doubted” that Forsfjäll would make this year’s talent-laden World Juniors team as an 18-year-old. Clearly, his play convinced the Swedish leadership otherwise.
It remains to be seen whether Forsfjäll will be active or a scratch when the puck drops on Dec. 26. Forsfjäll is eligible for the 2025 tournament, and it is possible he is included with this year’s team to prepare him for an active role next year.
For his part, prospect analyst Chris Peters (a very good friend of the Sound of Hockey Podcast) was not surprised Forsfjäll made the team. Peters mentioned on his most recent Talking Hockey Sense podcast that Forsfjäll is highly regarded in Sweden for his work ethic. Peters projects Forsfjäll to play a fourth-line role.
Team Finland
Team Finland’s roster has not yet been disclosed, but it is widely expected two Kraken prospects will play prominent roles.
Very likely in: Jani Nyman
Nyman, 19, was a Kraken second-round pick in 2022, No. 49 overall. He’s a hulking six-foot-four, 207-pound left-shot winger who uses his physicality well both on and off the puck, but is most notable for his heavy shot. I’ve written a fair amount about Nyman recently. For more information go here and here.
Nyman has played the last two years for Ilves in Liiga, Finland’s top professional league. He has moved into a top-six role this season and has responded with impressive production. His 14 goals lead Liiga.
He played in the 2023 World Juniors, tallying two goals and an assist in five games. This year, most public prognosticators project Nyman as Finland’s top-line left wing.
If Finland is going to factor into the medal conversation at the 2024 World Juniors, it will likely be because Nyman has delivered offensively.
Very likely in: Niklas Kokko
The other reason Finland could succeed at the 2024 World Juniors? Another 2022 Kraken second-round pick–goaltender Niklas Kokko. Finland brought Kokko, 19, to the 2023 World Juniors as an underage player. Though he did not play, this suggested that he was viewed as the favorite to take the mantle for the 2024 team.
In the year since then, Kokko has done nothing but confirm Team Finland’s confidence in him and appears poised to be the primary goaltender. In Liiga play, Kokko has started 10 games for Kärpät. He began the season as the clear-cut backup but earned more playing time as the year has progressed with strong play. His .906 save percentage is tied for ninth in Liiga, and he is one of only two teenage Liiga goalies with 10 or more starts. (He has plainly outperformed the other, Noa Vali, who has an .881 save percentage.)
In international play, Kokko has started six games for Finland so far this season, a figure unsurpassed by any other Finnish goalie. And this total does not count his exhibition starts as the lead goaltender for Team Finland at the World Junior Summer Showcase in July.
Speaking of the World Junior Summer Showcase, that event pitted Kokko against Team Sweden and Team USA–two teams commonly referenced as favorites to win the World Juniors. And I thought Kokko was either the best or second-best player for Team Finland in attendance. He plays a calm and disciplined Finnish butterfly style. Over the summer it worked really well keeping his team in the game when Finland was often outgunned.
The question is, can Kokko steal Finland a game or two in Gothenburg? If so, “the Young Lions” will have a chance.
Likely out: Visa Vedenpää
Goalie Visa Vedenpää was Seattle’s sixth-round pick in 2023. While it is possible that Team Finland brings along Vedenpää, 18, as an inactive third goalie akin to how it brought Kokko along as an underager last year, it is more likely Vedenpää misses the cut entirely. The sense I get is that Vedenpää is not quite as high on Team Finland’s depth chart as Kokko was last year. I haven’t seen any public prognosticators projecting him onto the team.
Vedenpää has had a solid season for the Kärpät U20 team and has taken several turns in goal for Finland’s international U20 team this season, including at the World Junior Summer Showcase. He has a chance to be in the mix for the 2025 team.
Team Czechia
Last but not least is the reigning silver medalist, Team Czechia. Like Finland, Czechia has not yet announced its roster, but we expect a Kraken prospect to be on there when it does.
Very likely in: Eduard Šalé
Sale, 18, was Seattle’s first-round pick in 2023 at No. 20 overall. Sale is a left-shot winger who spent his draft season playing for HC Kometa Brno of the Czech Extraliga, Czechia’s top professional league.
This year he has moved to the OHL, where he plays for the Barrie Colts. His transition to North American hockey has not been without speed bumps, but he has still compiled a respectable total of seven goals and 14 assists in 25 games.
While Sale is just 18 and remains eligible for the 2025 World Juniors, he has already played–and played well–on this top junior stage. He played for Czechia’s 2023 silver medal team and delivered an impressive total of six points in seven games.
Sale’s game is built on skating, puck handling, and playmaking. He’s a skilled shooter too, with great natural tools, but he is still developing that aspect of his game. On the downside, he is at times criticized for his lack of engagement defensively and in physical play.
The World Juniors will be a great opportunity to check in on Sale because he has excelled in international play in the past. Similar to Nyman and Kokko for Team Finland, production from Sale is a big key for Team Czechia if it has any hopes of taking home a medal for a second consecutive year.
Curtis Isacke
Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.