Prospect Info: World Junior Hockey Championship 2018

[Henkka]

Zadina was very impressive today, their goalie was huge though. Tough tournament for the Finns, really tough.

Didn't like Luukkonen's goaltending in the tournament. Big guy, who all the time had an ability to make him look small. Finland would have deserved better, but it is what it is. You can't have great class every year at every position.

 

[Frk It]

Can't do a pull-up but he can do this...

 

[MikeyDee]

Vilardi, for anyone who watched the Memorial Cup, was a ****ing beast.
Incredible strength. Top flight skill. Terrific shot.

Yeah, I've been on the Vilardi bandwagon for a while now. Still wish we got him. But at the same time let's hope for LA's sake he's not injury prone. Last two seasons he's been out sig time with injuries. I do like the Windsor-Kingston trade. Probably do him some good playing in front of his hometown fans.

 

[Ezekial]

Can't do a pull-up but he can do this...

He's a skilled dude that's for sure. I always thought the pull up thing was stupid, I'm small but I can bust out 15 pull ups like it's nothing and I never work out. Some of my buddies who work out every day can't do as many as me, but they're stronger and more athletic in every way.

 

[Martinez]

Can't do a pull-up but he can do this...

Possibly the best player in the whole tournament so far

 

[Redder Winger]

I thought they made impacts in their limited ice time. Svech has really good board play and is hard to knock off the puck. He's also a good passer.

Like his brother, his skating isn't impressive.
He can't pull away from guys.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

Thankyou canada for once again making my country look pathetic

Selling out a building in another country when maybe 1000 fans showed up to watch team usa at home

 

[Redder Winger]

Robert Thomas out there in the final minute of the game for Team Canada.
Great pick by the Blues.

 

[Redder Winger]

Bring the WJC to Detroit-Windsor

 

[Redder Winger]

Hate seeing how dejected the Swedes are. They played great.
Ah to be young and overemotional.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

Hate seeing how dejected the Swedes are. They played great.
Ah to be young and overemotional.

They played great

It was an awesome game

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Surprised Canada won it this year. I thought they were the third best team in the tournament. Good on them.

 

[Redder Winger]

Surprised Canada won it this year. I thought they were the third best team in the tournament. Good on them.

Even when other teams have better top lines, or top Dmen, canada beats you with far superior third lines and fourth lines and 2nd and 3rd pairings.

I'm kind of surprised US hasn't overtaken Canada yet.

Canada remains the country with the most players. 639,500 players are registered in ice hockey’s motherland, followed by 543,239 players in the United States.

Seven traditional European hockey countries follow behind North America:
Czech Republic, 109,103
Russia, 102,179
Finland, 74,150
Sweden, 60,408
Switzerland, 26,898
Germany, 25,430
France, 21,451

But Canada still has more "registered" hockey players.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

USA was a more talented team this year.

Sort of a role reversal in terms of the traditional feeling there in my opinion.

 

[newfy]

USA was a more talented team this year.

Sort of a role reversal in terms of the traditional feeling there in my opinion.

Maybe more talent but its not like the States were stacked with top 5 picks. Middlestadt had a really good tournament but a lot of the rest of the roster were picked somewhere around 20th overall or lower. Plus Canada had the edge in goal.

Sweden had the most talented roster but they seem to find a way to choke once the prelims are done. 44 straight prelim games won and still no gold medal in that time frame

 

[HisNoodliness]

Watching Necas this tournament was really disheartening for me. I know we have to move on and accept Rasmussen but I'd have really liked that pick and he's looked so good. I think the 2017 draft is starting to prove that it wasn't very weak at all and there was a lot of talent available that got sold short because it wasn't in the OHL. At least a lot of the 2018s impressed quite a bit. Dahlin, of course, remains the best case scenario for any franchise. He's phenomenal.

I'm never surprised when Canada wins but I thought they were a lot less exciting than the Swedes, Czechs and Americans this year. They won with depth and solid defensive play throughout the lineup.

 

[newfy]

Watching Necas this tournament was really disheartening for me. I know we have to move on and accept Rasmussen but I'd have really liked that pick and he's looked so good. I think the 2017 draft is starting to prove that it wasn't very weak at all and there was a lot of talent available that got sold short because it wasn't in the OHL. At least a lot of the 2018s impressed quite a bit. Dahlin, of course, remains the best case scenario for any franchise. He's phenomenal.

I'm never surprised when Canada wins but I thought they were a lot less exciting than the Swedes, Czechs and Americans this year. They won with depth and solid defensive play throughout the lineup.

Apparently Necas was really good in a few of the early games in the tournament (that I didnt watch) but the 2 of the Czechs that I did see, he didnt look like anything special. He looked like a guy picked where he was should look. Zadina was the real stud on that line. Zadina was the best winger in this tournament and a guy picked where Necas was will look good with a player like that.

Still hes a comparable prospect to Rasmussen for sure, but I wouldnt get too upset over it still based on the couple games I watched this world junior

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

Apparently Necas was really good in a few of the early games in the tournament (that I didnt watch) but the 2 of the Czechs that I did see, he didnt look like anything special. He looked like a guy picked where he was should look. Zadina was the real stud on that line. Zadina was the best winger in this tournament and a guy picked where Necas was will look good with a player like that.

Still hes a comparable prospect to Rasmussen for sure, but I wouldnt get too upset over it still based on the couple games I watched this world junior

Weird. I thought Necas was considerably better than Zadina for basically the entire tournament. He played all situations, and looked pretty good everywhere. I really liked how he competed defensively. He wasn't perfect, but he was *very* interested in playing in his own end when the game was on the line. I found that intriguing for a finesse type guy. He doesn't play like Datsyuk, but it's a very Datsyukian attitude.

Zadina came on those last few games, but he was never the two-way presence Necas was. These are muddy waters, though, because they played together basically all tournament long. Necas and Zadina assisted on basically all of each other's goals. It's tough to separate their offensive impacts because of that.

 

[newfy]

Weird. I thought Necas was considerably better than Zadina for basically the entire tournament. He played all situations, and looked pretty good everywhere. I really liked how he competed defensively. He wasn't perfect, but he was *very* interested in playing in his own end when the game was on the line. I found that intriguing for a finesse type guy. He doesn't play like Datsyuk, but it's a very Datsyukian attitude.

Zadina came on those last few games, but he was never the two-way presence Necas was. These are muddy waters, though, because they played together basically all tournament long. Necas and Zadina assisted on basically all of each other's goals. It's tough to separate their offensive impacts because of that.

Yeah I agree on the Necas looking interested in his own end. Zadina looked like a two way winger, but Necas as a centerman was definitely making more of an impact defensively. I took notice of that for sure, but like you said he wasnt perfect either. I distinctly remember him taking the wrong side of a guy in a board battle in his own end that led to a good scoring chance and said I need to rememeber that play when people are talking about him on the wings board.

I didnt think they were all that close offensively though. They may have assisted on all each others goals but I thought Zadina created 75% of the offense on that line. Whether it was his nasty shot scoring from somewhere or a few nifty moves he made to create a chance. Necas was good obviously, but for a draft eligible guy Zadina looks like this tournament could've helped him steal away 2nd overall in this years draft. Similar to Laine in his WJC

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

Yeah I agree on the Necas looking interested in his own end. Zadina looked like a two way winger, but Necas as a centerman was definitely making more of an impact defensively. I took notice of that for sure, but like you said he wasnt perfect either. I distinctly remember him taking the wrong side of a guy in a board battle in his own end that led to a good scoring chance and said I need to rememeber that play when people are talking about him on the wings board.

I didnt think they were all that close offensively though. They may have assisted on all each others goals but I thought Zadina created 75% of the offense on that line. Whether it was his nasty shot scoring from somewhere or a few nifty moves he made to create a chance. Necas was good obviously, but for a draft eligible guy Zadina looks like this tournament could've helped him steal away 2nd overall in this years draft. Similar to Laine in his WJC

Agree to disagree, I guess. I came away thinking Tkachuk had a better tournament than Zadina. I thought Zadina was good, but not great. In particular, he did relatively little in those first 4-ish games. And away from the puck, he's not really anything special. At least Tkachuk was physical.

I loved Necas' game, though. Especially how his coach was leaning maybe even a little too hard on him. He was playing every situation, like every time something happened in the game, the Czech coach's response was to put Necas out there. And he thrived in that role, and nearly led the tournament in scoring. To me, that's a Datsyukian-type achievement: to play a more defensive role, but still end up near the top of the scoring.

 

[Pavels Dog]

Watching Necas this tournament was really disheartening for me.

I was impressed with him early on. What I saw from him in the elimation games was less impressive, but still I would not have been disappointed if he had been our pick. But it's hard to compare to Ras when one is in the tournament and one isn't. I've learned to not make too much out of WJC performances. Too many guys have looked amazing there and then turned into busts.

 

[Whoshattenkirkshoes]

Some other analysis of the tournament.

Timothy Lilgegren looked fantastic. Great pick for the leafs

Conor Timmons wow! This kid is going to be a stud. Should have been a top 5 pick in the draft. Complete and total steal by Colorado with the 32nd pick. Makar and Timmons on the blueline, good work Avs!

 

[WingedWheel1987]

Lias Andersson was the real MVP at the WJC.

 

[HisNoodliness]

I was impressed with him early on. What I saw from him in the elimation games was less impressive, but still I would not have been disappointed if he had been our pick. But it's hard to compare to Ras when one is in the tournament and one isn't. I've learned to not make too much out of WJC performances. Too many guys have looked amazing there and then turned into busts.

Honestly it's tough to compare Ras to anyone with how little he's playing. Hopefully he can put these injuries behind him soon. Tough to get excited about the kid without more play.

Yeah Necas wasn't quite as impressive late in the tournament when the competition got tougher but I still liked his play. He's such a great skater to watch, and seems to find a way to help his team no matter where the puck is.

 

[HisNoodliness]

Some other analysis of the tournament.

Timothy Lilgegren looked fantastic. Great pick for the leafs

Conor Timmons wow! This kid is going to be a stud. Should have been a top 5 pick in the draft. Complete and total steal by Colorado with the 32nd pick. Makar and Timmons on the blueline, good work Avs!

I haven't jumped on the Timmins hype train quite yet, but he's certainly looking like a steal at 32. Colorado fans must be excited about this tournament as their picks were dominant.

Liljegren is going to make everyone look stupid. He might never live up to pre-mono hype but he probably should have been a top 10 pick. I'm so mad Toronto is going to have another great young player.