The World Men's U-18 Championship has seen some dominant performances from teams and players so far. Tony Ferrari previews the quarterfinals while highlighting the standouts.

The Under-18 World Championship has been a delight to watch, and we’ve seen some impressive hockey from a number of teams and players. 

Whether it’s the 2024 NHL draft-eligible kids who use this as a last chance to showcase their game or 2025 and 2026 draft eligibles stepping up and dominating despite their youth, it’s been a ton of fun.

Now that the round-robin play has wrapped up, we have our quarterfinal matchups set, and we could see some big names taking early exits from the tournament. There are some fun rivalry matchups and a couple of one-sided affairs.

USA vs. Switzerland

Finland vs. Sweden

Canada vs. Latvia

Czechia vs. Slovakia

Let’s look at what some of the top players on each remaining team have done so far and what to expect from each matchup.

USA vs. Switzerland

The Americans are a powerhouse, and the Swiss have been a feisty group despite finishing fourth in Group B. The Americans walked everyone they played. The Swiss made things difficult on Sweden in their final game, forcing overtime and outplaying them for long stretches of time. It’s going to be a lopsided game, in all likelihood.

James Hagens leads the tournament in scoring and has looked dominant in every game. He is a play-driving center who elevates everyone around him. It helps that Teddy Stiga has been his right-hand man – he’s one of the most driven players in the tournament. The dynamic duo stands out when they’ve been on the ice.

The Americans have been chasing records at this tournament as well. Cole Hutson set the record for scoring by a defenseman in the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, and Cole Eiserman is just a couple of goals away from breaking the all-time NTDP goal record. This American team has been a wagon all tournament.

On the Swiss side of things, they haven’t found a way to get in the win column outside of their game against Kazakhstan. They have a few interesting NHL draft-eligible players, such as Daniil Ustinkov and Leon Muggli, on the blueline. Gian Meier has led the team in scoring as a defenseman as well. They just don’t have much in the way of offensive talent.

This should be a fairly easy win for the Americans, but if they overlook the Swiss, we could see a scary first period where the U.S. squad doesn’t jump out to a big lead.

Finland vs. Sweden

In a matchup of bitter rivals, this should be a solid game between the Finns, who have looked steady as they always do, and the Swedes, who have looked a bit underwhelming so far at the U-18s. 

This isn’t the strongest birth year for Sweden, but the team does have some very talented players, and Finland has leaned on top talent to produce and drive them.

The Swedes have seen different players step up in just about every game. Alexander Zetterberg was a star one night. Lucas Pettersson was the driving force in their final game of the preliminary round. 

Linus Eriksson has been a bit up and down, but when he’s been good, he’s been very good. Alfons Freij and Leo Sahlin Wallenius have both had nice moments on their blueline.

Their 2007-born netminder, Love Harenstam, has been very good throughout the tournament and is probably their most consistent player. With how the team has been playing, the Swedes will likely go as far as Harenstam takes them.

The Finns have been quite good on the power play, with Konsta Helenius and Emil Hemming working their magic together. Aron Kiviahrju has returned from a season-long injury to play many minutes and make his case for why he should still be a relatively high draft pick. Tuomas Suoniemi has looked dangerous offensively, just as he did at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, which is a nice sign after a middling season with his club team.

The Finns have scored the most goals of any team other than Canada or the USA. They also finished third, behind Canada and the USA, in goals against at the tournament. Aside from their game against the Americans, the only goal they allowed was in their opening game against Latvia. They’ve been very good all tournament long.

This should be a good matchup, but the Finns deserve to be the slight favorites. Whoever wins this game may ultimately be the favorite to win the bronze medal.

Canada vs. Latvia

Much like the USA-Switzerland game, this is likely a one-sided affair. The Canadians have been dominant throughout the tournament, and the Latvians have been less than dominant, to put it kindly. 

Canada has a strong roster, even though many of their best players opted out of the tournament or remain in the CHL playoffs. Latvia, on the other hand, is mostly happy to avoid the relegation round, thanks to a win over Slovakia and a favorable goal differential.

Some of Canada's youngest players have taken center stage. Gavin McKenna, a player not eligible for the NHL draft until 2026, is the tournament’s second-leading scorer with 14 points, and he could easily have more if a few bounces went his way. His dynamism, skill, and playmaking have elevated everyone he’s played with.

Porter Martone has played alongside McKenna, and the duo brings a thunder-and-lightning element to the top of the Canadian lineup. Martone plays a physical brand of hockey that should entice scouts when the 2025 NHL draft cycle rolls around, but for now, the young duo is tearing it up for Canada at the U-18s.

There's also young talent standing out on the blueline, with 2025 draft-eligible Matthew Schaefer leading the way. Schaefer’s elite skating ability has allowed him to excel at both ends of the ice. Charlie Elick headlines the 2024 draft eligibles on the back end, bringing his physical, defense-first game to the blueline.

On the Latvian side, they need to hope for a bit of a miracle, as they don’t feature much in the way of high-end talent. Daniels Serkins and Bruno Osmanis have looked decent. Darels Uljanskis and Krists Retenais have had moments on the blueline, making plays at both ends of the ice. It’s just simply not enough to match up with Canada or any of the other teams ahead of them in the standings in either group.

The Latvian hockey program is stoked that it avoided relegation and found its way into the quarterfinals. The team accomplished what it came into the U-18s hoping to accomplish. This tournament should be deemed a success.

The only way the Latvians have a realistic shot at advancing beyond the quarters is a historic performance from one of their netminders. Even if that does happen, there is no guarantee that Canada doesn’t find a goal or two, which would probably be enough to take down Latvia.

Czechia vs. Slovakia

Another rivalry matchup in the quarters features Czechia taking on Slovakia, which is a battle of the mids. Neither team has lived up to the expectations it’s built up for itself over the last couple of years, with underwhelming rosters due to both nations' weak 2006 birth years.

Slovakia captain Tomas Pobezal is a 2025 draft eligible as a late 2006-born player. His four goals have paced the team and given them a finisher they can rely on. Miroslav Satan, the son of the former NHLer with the same name, has been an entertaining player to watch. The 6-foot-7 forward forechecks hard, skates his tail off and plays with reckless abandon.

On the back end, they’ve seen Luka Radivojevic take a leading role offensively, leading the team in scoring and providing them with some excellent puck-moving ability. Adam Belusko has had some good moments as the top 2024 draft-eligible defender on the squad, but much like the rest of the team, there have been some wild inconsistencies.

On the Czech side, it’s largely the same story. They have a pair of WHLers in Adam Jecho and Maximillian Curran who have been leading the charge offensively with some timely scoring and steady playmaking. Adam Benak is one of the younger players on the squad but he was expected to have a big tournament for Czechia and he hasn’t quite lived up to those expectations.

The Czech blueline hasn’t registered a point in the tournament so far despite Tomas Galvas's impressive puck-moving and Jakub Fibigr's steady hand. It’s just been a tournament of misfortune for a squad that really needed a lot to go their way to do any real damage. It certainly doesn’t help that netminder Jakub Milota has been average at best, and they were hoping that he would be a strength for them at this event.

This is likely going to be the closest matchup of the quarterfinal matchups but it could also feature some of the sloppiest and most underwhelming hockey of the tournament. Maybe one of these squads can get their game together but until we see it happen, both Czechia and Slovakia will be competitive afterthoughts at the U18s.