NHL Prospect Roundup: The 10 best standouts from November’s international break

Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

The IIHF’s second international break took place this past weekend, serving as the last tune-up event for U-20 teams ahead of the World Junior Championship.

The U-20 five nations tournament in Czechia was the real highlight – but we’re going to call it the three nations since Czechia and Finland both had two teams. Finland’s main team – the U-20 squad – had a perfect 3-0 record to win it all, with Sweden coming second and Czechia finishing third.

On the men’s side, the Deutschland Cup returned with Austria, Germany, Denmark and Slovakia. Germany won gold in front of a loud Krefeld crowd, and a handful of NHL-drafted prospects took part against older competition, too.

Taking a look at all the major events involving NHL drafted prospects over the weekend, here’s a look at 10 notable standouts:

Marco Kasper, C (Austria, Detroit Red Wings)

Austria finished with silver at the Deutschland Cup, and Kasper was a key piece of the team’s offensive attack. He finished with just two points, but he centered Austria’s top line and was a fixture on the power play. The Deutschland Cup is one of the first men’s World Championship tuneups for the year, so having an 18-year-old like Kasper playing as big of a role as he did is notable. Taken eighth overall by Detroit this past summer, Kasper has 10 points in 16 games with Rogle in the Swedish league, good for second behind 2023 NHL Draft prospect Leo Carlsson among U-19 scorers.

Jani Nyman, RW (Finland U-20, Seattle Kraken)

With seven points in just three games – bookended by a pair of two-goal, three-point efforts – Nyman was unstoppable at the three nations tournament in Poruba, Czechia. Nyman helped parlay an impressive showing at the U-18 World Championship last spring into a second-round selection by Seattle during the summer, and it’s been up from there ever since. He has 13 points in six games with Finland’s junior team this year and is tied for the U-20 scoring lead in the top Finnish league with Joakim Kemell and Leeni Hameenaho, despite playing four fewer games. The Kraken’s 2022 draft was about getting value in the early rounds, and the 6-foot-3 power forward is showing real promise right now

Filip Bystedt, C (Sweden U-20, San Jose Sharks)

Expectations were high for the 2022 first-rounder, and he lived up to them with five assists and six points in three games at the three nations tournament in Czechia. He’s Sweden’s top U-20 scorer with 11 points in five games this season, setting him up for a big role with the World Junior Championship team in a month. Bystedt’s speed and long stride – mixed in with his big 6-foot-4 frame – makes him tough to contain on a rush and he can shoot even while at a high speed. He moves the puck well, something that’s been on display in droves this season. He’s having a good year with Linkoping in the Swedish league and this early season showing in Czechia should help boost him further.

Aku Koskenvuo, G (Finland U-20, Vancouver Canucks)

Koskenvuo has played just one game at Harvard University this season, so getting the reps in with Finland was a nice touch. He won both games he started and with a .923 save percentage, while fellow countryman Jani Lampinen had a shutout in his lone start. The Finns were clearly best in class at the Czechia three nations, but Koskenvuo still looked strong given his limited workload this season. Vancouver took Koskenvuo in the fifth round in 2021, and early signs suggest he could end up providing nice value in the Canucks’ system – they just need a bit of patience.

Oskar Pettersson, RW (Sweden U-20, Ottawa Senators)

Pettersson, taken 72nd overall by Ottawa at the 2022 Draft, has had a wonderful season with Sweden’s U-20 program, adding another five points to his resume to give him four goals and 10 points in six games. His release is quick and he seems more engaged near the net than ahead of his draft year. The biggest issue still is his average skating, something that would allow him to earn more ice time in the top Swedish league if taken up a notch. Offensively, though, he knows what he’s doing.

Kalle Väisänen, LW (Finland U-20, New York Rangers)

Väisänen had a quiet start to the season with just one goal in 19 games between TPS’ mens and junior teams. A hat trick against Sweden on Saturday marked one of the best single-game performances, and he added an extra goal against Czechia’s U-19 squad, too. A fourth-round pick by the Rangers in 2021, Väisänen will likely fill a bottom-six role for the Finns at the World Junior Championship, but his showing in Czechia should give him some extra confidence.

Topi Rönni, C (Finland U-20, Calgary Flames)

Rönni’s strong U-20 season continues. He’s now up to seven points in six games with the national team after registering an assist in all three games this weekend. He hasn’t played much this year due to injuries and an illness, but he has five points in two U-20 Finnish league games and scored in his second Liiga contest earlier this month. There’s a lot of people who thought the Flames got a steal in the second round with Rönni, and while it’s still way too early to make that argument, it was nice seeing him succeeding against his age group.

Oliver Kapanen, C (Finland U-20, Montreal Canadiens)

Noticing a trend? The Finns were pretty darn good. Kapanen, a second-round pick by Montreal in 2021, served as Finland’s top center and was rewarded with a three-goal effort. He scored in each of Finland’s victories in Czechia, continuing on from what’s been a solid first full season with KalPa in the top Finnish Liiga. He hasn’t really produced a ton internationally in recent years, but a couple of scouts really liked how involved he seemed every night this past weekend.

Frederik Dichow, G (Denmark, Montreal Canadiens)

It’s been an up-and-down season for Dichow this season, with the 21-year-old playing on a Frolunda team that has struggled to give him proper goal support in his first SHL season. He was a busy man at the Deutschland Cup with Denmark but looked good with a solid 1-1 record and a .919 save percentage. He averaged a tournament-high 34 saves per game, highlighted by a 42-save performance in a 4-3 overtime win against Slovakia. That was perhaps the most impressive goaltending performance of the weekend after facing 30 more shots than Slovakia’s Dominik Riecicky. Dichow has been slowly eased into the Danish men’s national team system in recent years – most notably a dazzling Olympic appearance in February – but he is starting to look like the team’s goalie of the future once Sebastian Dahm retires (sorry, Freddy Andersen, but you rarely play for Denmark). Dichow is showing a ton of promise for a goalie selected in the fifth round in 2020.

Fabian Wagner, C (Sweden U-20, Winnipeg Jets)

After a quiet showing at the U-18 World Championship last year, it was nice to see Wagner pot some points at the three nations. Wagner had two goals in the one game he played for the Swedes, including an absolute snipe top corner. A sixth-round pick in 2022, Wagner is a good shooter-passer dual-threat, but his skating really drags him down.

_____