Congratulations to Team Canada’s very convincing 7-0 victory over Team Sweden this past weekend, securing the gold medal (its 2nd in a row) at the 2025 U18 world junior hockey tournament. Congratulations also to silver medalist Team Sweden on its 7th consecutive medal at this event, and bronze medalist Team USA. The usual formula for Canadian success at this pre-draft showcase occurred in this game: significant offensive contributions from its D corps (which led the tournament in scoring), and outstanding goaltending from Jack Ivankovic (who stopped all 28 shots he faced for his 2nd straight shutout).
Team Sweden forward Filip Ekberg was named the tournament’s MVP, despite his team falling short of gold. Ekberg finished with a tournament-best 18 points (10G 8 A) en route to greatly improving his draft stock. To that end, attached is a list of the top 5 players enhancing their status in the upcoming selection process.
Ekberg also was named to the tournament all-star team, where he was joined by Team Canada’s Ivankovic (who also was named best goalie in the tournament). Ekberg teammates Sascha Boumedienne & Ivar Stenberg, the tournament’s 2nd and 3rd leading scorers, also were named to the all-star team. Team USA d-man Drew Schock and Team Canada forward Brady Martin rounded out this team.
https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2025/wm18/schedule
https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/2025-nhl-draft-improved-draft-stock-ekberg-schafer-katzin