2025 World Junior Summer Showcase: Vanacker, Rimpinen highlight top standouts from final day

Steven Ellis
Aug 2, 2025, 19:41 EDTUpdated: Aug 2, 2025, 19:43 EDT
2025 World Junior Summer Showcase: Vanacker, Rimpinen highlight top standouts from final day
Credit: Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff

The 2025 World Junior Summer Showcase in Minnesota has come to a close, with Finland beating Sweden 3-1 before Canada beat the United States 6-2.

No gold medals were handed out, but both Sweden and Finland finished with 4-1 records. The Swedes had the better goal differential of +9, with Finland finishing second at +6. Canada and the United States both started the tournament with split squads, with USA White and Canada White each securing a win.

Canada’s 6-2 win today was the lone victory by the North American teams after ditching the split-squad system.

Here is a look at the top performers from the final day in Minnesota:

Finland 3, Sweden 1

Finland

#30 Petteri Rimpinen, G (Los Angeles Kings): Named top goaltender at the tournament back in January, Rimpinen seemed to channel some of that same energy today. He was lights out, with the lone goal against coming on a questionable deflection on the power play. Beyond that, Rimpinen was on top of his game today, seeing pucks through traffic with little issue. I loved how athletic he looked today.

#23 Roope Vesterinen, LW (Undrafted): Vesterinen scored twice today, including the game-winner in the second period. I like him on the power play because he never makes things complicated – he knows where he needs to be. Today, he tipped in a great pass from Daniel Nieminen and then scored an empty-netter to seal the deal. With four goals this week, it was an impressive week for Vesterinen.

#28 Heikki Ruohonen, C (Philadelphia Flyers): Ruohonen is a hard-working forward who loves hanging around the net. He scored the opening goal after winning a battle in front, poking in the loose puck on the power play. Ruohonen then set up the empty-netter on a great play there, too. Overall, an impressive week for the Flyers prospect.

Sweden

#30 Carl Axelsson, G (Undrafted): I was a bit surprised Axelsson wasn’t drafted in June, but I know today helped him turn some heads. The 6-foot-4 goaltender was perfect at 5-on-5, taking up a ton of space but moving well at the same time. Axelsson spent plenty of time at the top of his crease to take shooting opportunities away, and he was great at rebounds, too.

#26 Jack Berglund, C (Philadelphia Flyers): Berglund should have no issue making Sweden’s World Junior team, especially after the week he had. His consistency was impressive, and he was in the right spot at the right time to make it 2-1. I was surprised he didn’t score another – he had a couple of other good looks throughout the game. I like how hard he is to move from the crease, and he’s tough to contain.


Canada 6, USA 2

Canada

#31 Joshua Ravensbergen, G (San Jose Sharks): This was the best performance by a Canadian goaltender this week. The Canadians struggled to generate quality scoring chances, so Ravensbergen was tasked with standing tall to keep things close. It wasn’t an overly difficult start, but he looked sharp whenever the Americans tested him today.

#17 Jake O’Brien, C (Seattle Kraken): This felt like O’Brien’s best game of the week. He made some excellent passes all over the ice, but none more than the goal that beautiful feed to Malcolm Spence to set up the 2-0 goal. O’Brien doesn’t need to be flashy to be good, but he’s totally capable of high-skilled moves like that. Away from the offensive zone, I liked how he got back to help out defensively, too. And, of course, he scored late in the game to help seal the deal.

#18 Malcolm Spence, LW (New York Rangers): Spence yet again impressed me today. He works so hard to win every shift, and he hits even harder. He spent a lot of time trying to get himself into dangerous scoring areas and it paid off with the 2-0 goal tonight. I could see Spence making it as a fourth-liner.

#19 Marek Vanacker, LW (Chicago Blackhawks): Vanacker had a goal and an assist today – and both came after some excellent work to gain possession of the puck. Like Spence, I could see Vanacker in the running for a bottom-line role. He mostly played deep in Canada’s lineup, but that’s because he’ll grind you down until there’s nothing left. What a week for the underrated forward.

USA

#29 Luke Osburn, D (Buffalo Sabres): Osburn had a solid night, rushing the puck up the ice a few times and even getting a few, high-quality passes in. His skating has really impressed me this week – he makes it look effortless. You can tell they liked him because Osburn spent what felt like half the third period on the ice. I’m not sure he’ll make USA’s roster, but his effort this week was excellent.

#7 Ben Kevan, RW (New Jersey Devils): Kevan had a great two-way game, but his goal at 56:16 proved crucial. He had been one of USA’s more noticeable forwards, buzzing around both ends of the ice. His goal late in the game gave USA the most momentum they had all game. I love his energy, his hockey sense and his proficiency as both a shooter and a passer.


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