U-18 World Championship scouting notebook: The top standouts from Day 2

Emil Jarventie (Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff)

BASEL, Switzerland – It was another interesting day in Switzerland, with a couple of teams needing bounce-back wins earning them in style. Finland and Sweden kept things moving at the right pace to improve to 2-0, giving them a good start early on.

Finland stomps on Latvia

The Finns showed no signs of being overtired after playing the late game on Thursday, coming out strong with a 5-2 win over a Latvian team that seemed to be running on fumes late in the going.

A handful of Finland’s top guns got on the board, including Rasmus Kumpulainen, Kasper Halttunen and Tuomas Uronen. The Finns looked in control from the get-go, scoring less than 90 seconds into the game to get the ball rolling.

Tuomas Uronen is a smart winger that makes a lot of nuanced plays that make you smile. At 1:25 in the first, he bounced the puck off Latvian netminder Aksels Ozols down low to purposely create a rebound. It worked as Rasmus Kumpulainen jumped in for the goal. It’s a simple, but effective play that has allowed Uronen to become quite successful. He later scored to make it 4-0, a lead that essentially put the game way out of reach for the Norwegians.
Aron Kiviharju doesn’t get the love he once did at the sharp end of the 2024 NHL Draft, but he looks so calm, smart and effective right now. He has a pair of assists while averaging just over 25 minutes a night, which is absurd for an underaged prospect. After today’s game, I had a great chat with him – you’ll see more soon. Let’s just say the coaching staff trusts him, big time.
Another good showing for Emil Jarventie, a prospect that has fallen down the ranks this year. Not big and relying on skill a lot of the time, Jarventie had a good playoff run in the Mestis and the momentum has carried over. He leads Finland with three points so far, including two assists tonight.
A longshot for the 2023 NHL Draft, I have been impressed by Peteris Bulans’ play with Latvia. He assisted on the team’s second goal and gave Finland’s top talent some headaches. He had a strong playoff run with Chicoutimi in a regular season that saw him play just 29 times. His lack of game time this year might hurt him on draft day, but a good full year in the QMJHL could go a long way.

Canada bounces back

Canada’s opening game against Sweden was an ugly 8-0 loss. After Carson Bjarnason allowed five goals on seven shots, it seemed like the Canadians just simply gave up, with the expected high-quality offense generating nothing of substance.

So a 7-0 win over Germany was exactly what the doctor ordered, and Canada was back in the good graces heading head into the team’s first break of the tournament.

That was a much better showing for defenseman Lukas Dragicevic, who scored the third Canadian goal. On Thursday, he was on the ice for five against and looked out of his element. We’ve seen the Jekyll and Hyde style he’s become accustomed to today, with producing a much more rounded effort. His ability to bounce back from poor games has been a strength of his – it’s like he’s his own biggest critic.
After exploding onto the scene in the second half of the OHL season, it’s nice to see Nick Lardis continue his hot play with Canada. He was stopped on all five shots against Sweden, but opened and closed the scoring today with a hat-trick. He looked like his highly confident self, and games like today will help his stock of being a first-round pick.
Speaking of Lardis, how about a four-point effort from his Oakville buddy, Calum Ritchie? Ritchie, who took a more two-way approach with Oshawa this year, was absolutely flying out there. He was one of Canada’s few bright spots against Sweden and now has put himself in the running for the scoring title early on.
Macklin Celebrini looked frustrated last night, but came out big with a three-assist effort. That’s the type of game we’re expecting out of the 2024 NHL Draft prospect, one many expect to go first overall.
The lone NCAAer in the tournament, Matthew Wood was aggresive, quick and overall one of Canada’s better players. He plays against older competition than most others and his maturity stands out.
Good on Canadian coach Jeff Truitt to go back to Carson Bjarnason. He wasn’t busy, but after a horrific start on Thursday, going out and closing the door – and nabbing an assist – had to have been a good confidence booster. Bjarnason is one of the top goaltenders in the tournament, while neither performance will do much to improve his overall stock, he looked much more in the zone tonight.

Switzerland excites home crowd against Norway

After an impressive showing against the Finns on Thursday, Switzerland kept the crowd roaring with an impressive 5-0 win over Norway.

It was an important win for the Swiss, who will likely finish in third place in Group B. Their meeting with Latvia in a few days will be very important, but the Swiss are in good shape early to qualify for the quarterfinals. And based on what we’ve seen, they’ll give teams fits with their physical, hard-working play.

Talking to some scouts and media for the game, I was told to keep a close eye on Eric Schneller. He scored the fourth Swiss goal and looked engaged every shift, even when the pace seemingly fell in a quiet third period. He had an assist against Finland too, playing a good puck-moving game. He wasn’t really on my scouting radar before this tournament, but I spent time watching some of his tape earlier in the day and, who knows? Maybe there’s something here.
I talked a bit about Leo Braillard last night too, but he was flying out there today. He plays a speedy game in the QMJHL and it just seemed like he never lost battles to the puck. Big question is his play away from the puck, and his effectiveness when he isn’t in scoring position, but he’s been great for Switzerland so far.
Swiss defenseman Daniil Ustinkov is another I wasn’t too aware about, but has really impressed. He was the only Swiss player with over 20 minutes of ice time. Ustinkov just 16, but has seven games of pro experience between the top two Swiss leagues and has played at nearly a point-per-game pace in U-17 national team competition. He recorded his first U-18 point this year and will be one to watch on that strong 2006-born Swiss group next year.
Ewan Huet didn’t have a ton of high-danger shots to worry about, but a shutout’s a shutout. After starting the year as a backup at the Hlinka-Gretzky, Huet has come into his own, so good to see him snag the donut tonight.
Not a ton of takeaways on the Norwegians (who have excellent traveling fans), but thought Casper Haugen looked decent. Showed some speed, played a feisty game and didn’t make a ton of mistakes out there.

Sweden doubles up on Slovakia

You know, it might not have been the right result for the Slovaks. But after beating Czechia and giving Sweden issues in a 4-2 loss, I’m not sure I’d want to face them in the quarters.

The Swedes were dominant with the puck, sending 52 shots Samuel Urban’s way. The Swedes had a 3-1 lead in the first and both scored twice in the third, with the final goal coming with the empty net. Given that, the Slovaks have to be thrilled with the performance.

Axel Sandin Pellikka‘s great tournament continues. He had five points a night ago and scored again in the first period. He’s been the best defenseman in this tournament so far, although Theo Lindstein – who had a five-point night for Tre Kronor – also put his hat in the ring. The pair have seven shots each, more than any player in the game.
Zeb Forsfjall was a man on a mission. He had just one assist, but he was the best passer on the ice and was rewarded with two assists. That was an excellent showing for Forsfjall, who won’t likely have to wait too long on Day 2 of the NHL Draft.
Samuel Urban was the reason the Slovaks were kept alive in this contest. He made 48 saves, including 43 in the first 40 minutes. It was sustained pressure all game, and he was up for the task. That’s two great games in a row for Urban, the 14th-ranked goaltender by NHL Central Scouting. He had mixed results this year, with a 1-13-0 record in the second Slovakian league and stops in other levels too, but the sample size has been tremendous with a .919 save percentage over two tough games.

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