Avalanche prospect Max Curran had himself a solid performance at the WJC, helping Czechia bring home silver and showing the Avalanche some faith in his growth and development
The 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship is now over, and Sweden has won gold over Czechia. For the Colorado Avalanche, only one prospect represented them in Minnesota: Max Curran of the Edmonton Oil Kings. In six games played, he finished with one goal and four assists for five points, six penalty minutes, and 15 shots on goal, all while finishing as a plus-4 in the tournament.
He had some good chances throughout the tournament, hovered around 16-17 minutes of ice time each game, and was often lined with Tomas Poletin (Islanders), Adam Benak (Wild), and Radin Mrtka (Sabres) when he joined the team late into the tournament. It wasn’t who I previously thought he might be paired with in my preview heading into the tournament, so it was good to see the team put him into a top-six position this tournament, despite not producing the most on the team.
Curran had a solid performance in his WJC debut on a competitive Czechia team that went 2-1-0-1 in the preliminary round. His performance in the preliminary wasn’t as good as it was in the playoffs, but it was just good enough to help them finish second in Group B.
Despite his “lower” end performance on the team, he excelled at the face-off dot. He took 57 face-offs and won 12 of them. He was fifth in the tournament for the most face-offs taken and had the fourth-best face-off plus/minus as well.
He recorded his only two points of the preliminary round in Game 18 of the tournament versus Latvia, where he finished with two assists and just over 17 minutes of ice time. His first point came in the first period as he helped set up Tomos Galvas racing into the offensive zone, wraps around the net, and finds Tomas Poletin, who rebounds his own shot and ties the game 1-1. His second assist came when he entered the zone, passed to Max Psenicka, who entered the right side of the offensive zone, threw it towards the net, and his shot bounced off defenseman Harijs Cjunskis and in.
His best performance was his three-point night against Team Canada in the semi-finals. He tied the game for Czechia as he was left open to bat in the loose puck rebound from Tomas Galvas’s initial shot.
His first assist and second point of the night came with just over 40 seconds in the second as he set up Adam Benak for a one-timer with a nifty saucer pass over two diving Canadian defenders to help take the lead 3-2 heading into the third period.
His third and final point of the night would be the most controversial one of them all. With just under 1:30 left in the third period, falling down, he sends a pass which bounces off Tomas Poletin and into the net, giving Czechia the 5-4 lead late in the period. Canada challenged that it was kicked in with Poletin spinning around, forcing a “kicking motion,” but the call stood as a good goal.
Unfortunately, Curran was a bit cold in the finals, as he finished with no shots on goal but won five of six faceoff opportunities to at least bring home a silver medal against Sweden.
In all, it was fortunate to watch an Avalanche prospect make the WJC and bring home a medal for his country. With how the Avalanche prospect pool looks right now, it's going to be tough to see anyone other than Curran make next year's WJC. Still, it was another positive sign this season to see a prospect perform strongly on the international stage before the Olympics this February. Now, Curran heads back to the Edmonton Oil Kings, who currently sit second in the Central Division and fourth in the League.
