The Chicago Blackhawks have plenty of reasons to watch the World Junior Championships. There was a preview of the action on Wednesday night in Kitchener.
On Wednesday night, Hockey Canada and Team Sweden faced off in a pre-tournament game for the 2025-26 World Junior Championships.
These two squads are among the best in the pool this year, and each believes it can win the Gold. There is also some Blackhawks flavor on each side.
Marek Vanacker Will Face Anton Frondell In Pre-Tournament World Juniors Action - Community Post
At 6 PM CT, Sweden will face Canada in a pre-tournament game for the World Junior Championships. Two Blackhawks prospects, Marek Vanacker and Anton Frondell, will participate.
There are lots of reasons, from a Blackhawks perspective, to catch this tournament that will begin on Boxing Day in Minnesota.
Anton Frondell
In this pre-tourney matchup, a 2-1 win for Canada, Anton Frondell made his presence felt by assisting on Sweden's only goal. Viggo Björck (2026 NHL Draft) scored the goal via a one-time shot off a perfect pass made by Frondell.
Frondell, the third overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, compares himself to Sasha Barkov of the Florida Panthers. It's hard to compare any prospect to a future Hall of Fame star, but it's a good goal to set for himself.
His offensive and defensive skills are still a work in progress, but he improves with every passing day. This play he made to tie the game for Sweden (at the time) was impressive and just a small example of the impact he can make.
Scouting Gavin McKenna
If you're Kyle Davidson or a Chicago Blackhawks scout, it is still worth it to scout Gavin McKenna. The Blackhawks had a much better start to the season than people expected, which cooled off the McKenna talk for them, but a recent slide has them right back in that conversation. With Connor Bedard set to miss another couple of weeks, their lottery odds may continue to increase.
McKenna set up both goals for Canada in their 2-1 win, but the play he made to set up the go-ahead and eventual winner was as nice as they come.
On that goal, McKenna set up Michael Hage (Montreal Canadiens) to gain the zone. After Hage got the puck back to McKenna, he dished it to Brady Martin (Nashville Predators), who scored his second of the game, both assisted by McKenna.
Gavin McKenna has been adjusting to the NCAA game with Penn State after dominating with the Medicine Hat Tigers last year, and he has experienced some growing pains. With that said, he's still putting up big numbers for a freshman, and there is no denying that he has number-one-overall-pick talent.
Marek Vanacker Cut
On Thursday morning, Hockey Canada announced that Marek Vanacker would be one of their first three cuts. He joins Jackson Smith (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Jake O'Brien (Seattle Kraken), going back to their respective junior teams.
It's an interesting decision made by Canada, as they have now cut the OHL's leading goal scorer. Vanacker wasn't on the training camp roster to begin with and became a late addition, so this isn't all that surprising. Once his season with the Brantford Bulldogs resumes, expect to see a highly motivated player.
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