The International Ice Hockey Federation's (IIHF) 2025 World Junior Championship, a global best-on-best under-twenty tournament, has concluded the Preliminary Round with the Quarter Finals, Semifinals, Bronze and Gold Medal games set for January 2nd, 2025 through January 5th, 2025 (no games on January 3rd, 2025). The Los Angeles Kings have three of their prospects participating in the event: Defenseman Jakub Dvorak (Czechia) and Goaltenders Hampton Slukynsky (U.S.A.) and Carter George (Canada). Each of their respective teams have qualified for the Quarter Finals, Slukynsky and U.S.A taking on Switzerland, while Dvorak and George will go head-to-head when Czechia takes on Canada – both games on January 2nd, 2025. JAKUB DVORAK Record: 3-1-0 Statistics: 4GP-1G-0A-1P, +5 Dvorak has certainly lived up to his billing as a Defensive Defenseman, hanging back in the play. Sometimes, he's so far back that he's outside the television frame. Although 6'5", Dvorak hasn't quite leaned into his physical play. Rather, he's using his reach to get his stick on the puck. Kings fans have seen Joel Edmundson use the two-hand tactic of stick on puck, second-hand separating his man from the puck, a play Dvorak has used (notably against Switzerland). Relying more on his stick than his body has been risky, giving up a goal against Sweden where he had time to drop down and block the shot, instead electing to poke check. On the penalty kill, Dvorak has used his size to play in front of his netminder. He's done a good job of directing traffic and seems to be the anchor of Czechia's PK. Against Kazakhstan, Dvorak stepped up into the play and scored top-left corner on a heavy wrist shot. Facing Slovakia, he had a sequence where he fired two booming slap shots, both blocked, which resulted in Slovakian players either dropping down to the ice in pain or skating to the bench with a limp. This is an element of his game that the Kings' Development Staff will hone in on. HAMPTON SLUKYNSKY Record: 1-0-0 Statistics: 1.00 GAA, .962 SV% Slukynsky only played in one Preliminary Round game, a 5-1 win against Latvia. While Carter George grew up idolizing Kings legend Jonathan Quick, other than his size, they play nothing alike. I bring that up to say Slukynsky has more Quick tendencies than George, particularly his play in the butterfly position. He forces shooters to go high, using his big frame to take away space down low. Slukynsky likes to drop down or even begin a play in the butterfly position where he absorbs shots into his pads. He hugs the post well on sharp angle shots, forcing the puck wide. The lone goal he's given up came on a broken play, the initial shot above the net which rebounded to the slot. A streaking player baited Slukynsky to go to his left while a second streaking player finished to Slukynsky's right. It was a bang, bang sequence, sending the puck over Slukynsky's shoulder while down in the butterfly. Slukynsky has been relegated to the 1A spot behind Trey Augustine. He got the start today against Switzerland with a 7-2 victory (more on that in another article). From here, it's anyone's guess but I doubt he sees game action again unless U.S.A. is playing in the Bronze Medal game. CARTER GEORGE Record: 2-1-0 Statistics: 1.01 GAA, .964 SV%, 2 SO, 1 A George has not only been a standout performer from the Kings' prospects but has been one of the best players in the entire tournament. Fans watching the event quickly took notice of George after recording a 4-0 shutout victory over Finland. They really took notice after recording a second shutout against Germany (3-0) where George recorded a primary assist and nearly scored an empty net goal. A few of the notes I continuously made of George were that: he never leaves his crease, doesn't get jumpy, and is calm, cool, and collected. His technique is sound. More of a stand-up netminder, he'll drop down to make saves but typically he's using his frame to absorb shots while leaning on his active glove to get the job done. I don't know if George grew up playing baseball but he made a couple saves that suggest he may have – one glove save like a catcher, the other his glove stretched in the air like an infielder catching a fly ball. PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS JAKUB DVORAK vs. Switzerland - December 26, 2024 > Stick on puck – forced the shot high up off the glass. Nice pull and drag shot > attempt – wrist shot into the pads. Made a nice play, stick on puck with > second hand following through to separate his man from the puck – the > opposition just made a nice, timely, pass off the boards which resulted in a > goal against. Never made it below the top of the faceoff circle in the > Offensive Zone. True stay at home Defensive Defenseman. Not a bad skater but > could add some speed to his game. Nice pull and drag. - Keith Fries - vs. Kazakhstan - December 28, 2024 > Staying back in the play. Off the draw, picked his spot and darted to open > ice, unleashing a solid wrist shot for a goal top left corner – heat on the > shot. On the ice for a 5-on-3 disadvantage – goal scored against him in this > sequence but he did a nice job of directing traffic while eliminating space > covering four defenders. Got a bit jumpy on Kazakhstan's second goal of the > game, biting to the player in the middle than sticking with the eventual goal > scorer on the wing. - Keith Fries - vs. Slovakia - December 29, 2024 > Using his stick to eliminate space. Nice job stepping up in the Offensive Zone > to grab the puck and keep the play alive. Solid connection on a one-time slap > shot, had some heat, blocked – player who blocked it went to the ice. > Immediately tried another slap shot and another block – player limping to the > bench. Good back skating. On the ice for quite a few goals for. Goal against, > 6-on-3 – tight triangle formation in the slot allowed too much room on the > wing for a one-timer. - Keith Fries - vs. Sweden - December 31, 2024 > Goal against, could have dropped down for a blocked shot, tried to go stick on > puck. Playing down low on the penalty kill, directing traffic. - Keith Fries - HAMPTON SLUKYNSKY vs. Latvia - December 28, 2024 > Nice slight movement, low glove, save – kept the puck moving. Good vision > through traffic with a nice glove save from the point, down in the butterfly. > Drops to the butterfly on shots from long range. Another long shot save, glove > side, down in the butterfly. Hugged the post and took away any opportunity on > a sharp angle shot. Not afraid to take a shot at the pads. On a two-on-none > breakaway, he read the situation correctly and didn't give up a goal – almost > made the glove save but bounced off. Shoulder save, stick side. Really good > poise with the opposition hacking and whacking – dropped down and sat on the > puck. Shoulder save in tight, backdoor, on the penalty kill. Another big > penalty kill save in tight – good puck tracking down in the butterfly. Long > shot, beat, but rang off the post. Another pad save, mid-range, in the > butterfly. Goal against – initial shot over the net, rebounded out front, > second player skated to the right and drew Slukynsky away from the net, finish > on the left by a third skater – bang, bang play – Slukynsky was down in the > butterfly and the goal was scored top left corner, over the shoulder, stick > side. - Keith Fries - CARTER GEORGE vs. Finland - December 26, 2024 > Good puck tracking, quick drop down for a pad save. Nice stretched arm glove > save. Good vision through track, drop down pad save. Baseball catcher glove > save standing up. Very nice positioning with heavy traffic – kept his eyes on > the puck, save in tight, didn't get spooked and lose his position when the > puck rebounded out. Glove save off a long shot tipped in traffic. On a > breakaway attempt, George stayed with shooter, never left his crease, and > barely moved when making a casual save. This kid is calm, cool and collected. > Used his blocker-side shoulder to bat a puck down in traffic before covering > it for a whistle. Trusting his teammates to block shots. Another shoulder save > from a mid-range shot. Held his position on a sharp angle shot. Nice glove > save on a shot off the faceoff. Even when faced with moments where he needs to > move to make a save, he never gets jumpy or over skates the play. - Keith > Fries - vs. Germany - December 29, 2024 > Drop down save on a dump in shot. Drop down torso save on a quick shot off a > turnover. Didn't panic when down on his butt, puck still active. Shoulder save > on strong shot from mid-range. Good positioning forced a shot off the post – > same sequence, George with good vision through traffic, another post save. > Playing low and finishing on a save with the drop down technique. Hasn't left > his crease. Not jumpy, holding his position. Glove save from distance making > it look routine. Nice save through traffic. Really good, quick shot reflexes. > Hugging the post. Primary assist on an empty net goal. - Keith Fries - vs. U.S.A. - December 31, 2024 > Standing glove save with ease. Catch off a high rebound like a baseball > infielder nabbing a fly ball. Trusting his positioning with shots wide left > and one that rang off the right post. Puck tracking well. Absorbed a shot into > his torso. Not overskating the play. Power play goal against, stick > side – Canada couldn't clear the zone, pressured. Post save. Nice breakout > pass. George's teammates have really tightened up in the second period – he's > still engaged but you can tell he's trusting them to hold their own. Big pad > save, tracking the puck going tic-tac-toe. Good puck tracking glove save. > Stretched out the pads – George isn't overly flexible relative to the Jonathan > Quick's of this world and really excels with limited movement, but nice to see > he can use those mechanics at opportune moments. Power play goal against, puck > low to high, quick wrister top-corner stick side. Nice poise to stop a shot on > a player absolutely flying to the net, feet on the posts. Post save. Power > play goal against, top of mid-range, stick side. - Keith Fries - Related Videos: LA Kings Weekly Preview THNKeithFriesWeek5Video
