World Championship: Most Impressive Player for Canada, Sweden, Czechia and Switzerland

While the IIHF men's World Championship is always overshadowed by the Stanley Cup playoffs in North America, this year's tournament has shown lots of promise for fans of NHL teams out of the post-season.

The 2025 4 Nations Face-Off, the first best-on-best international tournament we’ve seen in a while, is on the horizon. It’s helped the four teams participating — Canada, United States, Sweden, Finland — ice more star-studded lineups than usual.

While drawing in big fish at the World Championship is somewhat of a delicacy for those four nations, it’s not all that hard for the other countries – two of which are in the final four.

Canada will face Switzerland in one semifinal at 12:20 p.m. on Saturday. The Canadians beat the Swiss in a tightly contested 3-2 matchup in the round-robin to get the highest seed in Group A heading into the elimination rounds. 

Sweden and Czechia will duel in the other semifinal at 10:20 a.m. ET. While Sweden has some top-notch NHL talent, such as Lucas Raymond, Erik Karlsson and Rasmus Dahlin, the Czechs have the home crowd behind them and already took out the Americans in the quarterfinal.

Let’s look at who has arguably been the most impressive player for each of the four remaining teams.

Dylan Cozens’ 2023-24 NHL season was the first of his seven-year, $49.7 million contract — and it was one to forget. He recorded just 47 points in 79 games after posting 68 points in 81 outings the year prior. 

But the 23-year-old has raised eyebrows at the World Championship, leading Canada in scoring with 10 points through eight games. He's also posted a tournament-high four power-play goals and two shorthanded goals. 

Those familiar with Cozens will attest that this season was a one-off, and if that’s indeed the case, this type of showing ought to get him on Canada’s radar for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Team Canada is known to love having role players, and while Cozens wouldn't be a top-six forward, he could potentially slot in nicely as the fourth-line center if he carries his momentum from the World Championship into next season. 

You can probably count Nico Hischier among the players who are irked by the fact that only four countries are represented in the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Hischier has taken center stage at the World Championship. The 25-year-old center's 11 points through eight contests are tied for the team-high, with six goals and five assists. He’s also won 55.15 percent of his faceoffs and has scored a tournament-high four game-winning goals, including one in the quarterfinal against Germany.

His scoring in the NHL this season dropped slightly to 67 points in 71 games from 80 in 81 games in 2022-23, but he's finishing the 2023-24 campaign on a high note with the Swiss.

Having backstopped an Anaheim Ducks squad that was abysmal from mid-November onward, Lukas Dostal is no stranger to putting his team on his back. 

The 23-year-old pitched a 36-save shutout in Czechia’s 1-0 win over a star-studded USA team in the quarterfinal, which gave him the tournament lead in shutouts with two. 

In eight contests, Dostal has posted the second-best save percentage (.929) and goals-against average (1.61) of any netminder in the World Championship. It should be an exciting matchup in the semifinal against Sweden's Filip Gustavsson, who has the best save percentage and goals-against average.

Joel Eriksson Ek may be overlooked when people list the best Swedish hockey players at the World Championship, but he's been fantastic. 

Eriksson Ek’s production doesn’t jump off the page — he’s fifth in team scoring with seven points — but his clutch meter is off the charts. 

The 6-foot-3 center scored a game-high three points against the Americans to open their tournament. He buried two goals against Slovakia in the final preliminary stage game, and he scored the OT-winner against Finland in the quarterfinal. 

Look out for Eriksson Ek to line up as Sweden’s second- or third-line center at the 4 Nations Face-Off. 

For more from the World Championship and international hockey news, visit The Hockey News' International site.