The World Juniors are an opportunity for NHL fans to watch their team\u2019s prospects play at a high level on the biggest stage junior hockey has to offer.<\/p>\n
All seven Canadian NHL teams have at least one prospect skating at this year\u2019s tournament with many expected to play prominent roles for their respective countries.<\/p>\n
Here are seven prospects representing Canada\u2019s NHL teams to watch for, starting on Boxing Day.<\/p>\n
F Cole Reschny \u2013 Calgary Flames, Canada<\/p>\n
Reschny is one of several players who made the move from the CHL to the NCAA in the off-season, going from the Victoria Royals to the University of North Dakota.<\/p>\n
The 18-year-old, who was drafted 18th overall by Calgary in June\u2019s draft, has two goals and 18 points in 16 games in his first college season.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo flash, no dash, all substance,\u201d TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button said of Reschny. \u201cHockey sense off the charts. Can play any situation in the game and play it well. He knows who he is, what he is, and he just goes about his business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reschny joins fellow Flames prospect Zayne Parekh, who made Button\u2019s Team Canada players to watch list.<\/p>\n
F Braeden Cootes \u2013 Vancouver Canucks, Canada<\/p>\n
Cootes was one of five 2025 draftees to start the season in the NHL, but like Canadian teammate Brady Martin, he was returned to junior hockey after just three games.<\/p>\n
Cootes, who was taken 15th overall by Vancouver in June, was held scoreless in his NHL stint but the Seattle Thunderbirds captain has 10 goals and 23 points in 17 games since returning to junior.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I watch him play, I just leave so impressed,\u201d said Button. \u201cSo good at being able to move from one area of the game to the next area of the game and really being so good and so strong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cootes also captained Canada\u2019s U18 squad to gold in May as he notched six goals and 12 points in seven games.<\/p>\n
F David Lewandowski \u2013 Edmonton Oilers, Germany<\/p>\n
Lewandowski is one of just three NHL prospects on Team Germany this year as the Germans look to avoid playing in the relegation round for a third straight year.<\/p>\n
The 18-year-old was selected in the fourth round (117th overall) in June by Edmonton and has eight goals and 32 points in 28 games this season with the WHL\u2019s Saskatoon Blades.<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid is a good, heavy, hard-nosed winger,\u201d said Button. \u201cGoes to the net, knows how to create offence with some power below the goal line, to the net, along the boards and asserts himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lewandowski had two goals in five games at last year\u2019s World Juniors.<\/p>\n
D Sascha Boumedienne \u2013 Winnipeg Jets, Sweden<\/p>\n
Defenceman Sascha Boumedienne was taken in the first round (28th overall) of June\u2019s draft by the Winnipeg Jets after notching 13 points in 40 games as a freshman with Boston University last season.<\/p>\n
At the U18s, he was named best defenceman at the tournament after scoring one goal with 14 points in seven games as Sweden took home silver.<\/p>\n
This season in the NCAA, the 18-year-old has two goals and six points in 17 games.<\/p>\n
Button says Boumedienne, who entered college as a 17-year-old, has done a fantastic job learning how to better utilize his skating ability to be more effective for his team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s a top-three defenceman,\u201d said Button. \u201cThat type of skating ability, the development he has shown, I think has been tremendous.\u201d<\/p>\n
D Victor Johansson \u2013 Toronto Maple Leafs, Sweden<\/p>\n
Joining Boumedienne on Sweden\u2019s blueline is Toronto Maple Leafs fourth-round pick Victor Johansson.<\/p>\n
Johansson has one goal and five points in 13 games with IK Oskarshamn in Sweden\u2019s HockeyAllsvenskan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Victor is a really good player,\u201d said Button. \u201cI think he\u2019s got lots of potential.<\/p>\n
\u201cExcellent skater. His lateral agility and footwork are outstanding. And in the offensive zone he can make stuff happen because his mind is so good that he sees opportunity from his own defensive zone all the way up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s what makes him so unique and intriguing.\u201d<\/p>\n
D Logan Hensler \u2013 Ottawa Senators, United States<\/p>\n
Hensler is a returning player from last year\u2019s American squad that won its second straight World Junior gold medal.<\/p>\n
The 19-year-old, who was taken 23rd overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 2025 draft, has three goals and eight points in 15 games with the University of Wisconsin this season, his second with the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cLogan is a player that can do many things,\u201d said Button. \u201cHe can move the puck, he can shoot the puck, if you put him in a spot on the power play, he\u2019s not going to be a big offensive player in my view but he\u2019s going to be able to get some movement in the right direction offensively.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has the skating ability to get the puck up the ice with his feet. He can move the puck with his stick. He can shut down the play defensively and get you out of having to defend in your own zone. I think those are all really good qualities for a defenceman.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hensler helped the United States win gold at the U17s in 2022 and silver at the 2024 U18s.<\/p>\n
F Aatos Koivu \u2013 Montreal Canadiens, Finland<\/p>\n
Koivu is skating in his second SM-Liiga season with TPS Turku, where he has two goals and seven points in 30 games.<\/p>\n
The son of former Canadiens captain Saku Koivu, Aatos was selected in the third round (70th overall) by Montreal in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cAatos has really developed,\u201d said Button. \u201cHe\u2019s that scoring, shooting threat. He\u2019s smart, got good hands, he\u2019s got an excellent shot. He\u2019s got a scorer\u2019s mentality. He wants to shoot the puck. He\u2019s got that hunger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finland took home silver at last year\u2019s World Juniors with their most recent gold medal coming in 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The World Juniors are an opportunity for NHL fans to watch their team\u2019s prospects play at a high…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[712,49,48,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-362058","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}