The quarterfinals of the 2025 World Juniors begin on Thursday and will feature three Pittsburgh Penguins prospects.

On Thursday, the quarterfinals of the 2025 World Juniors begin at noon ET when Sweden takes on Latvia. However, the three Pittsburgh Penguins prospects at the tournament don't play until the late afternoon and evening. 

Finland's Emil Pieniniemi and Kalle Kangas will face off against Czechia at 5 p.m. ET, followed by Tanner Howe and Team Canada taking on Czechia at Canadian Tire Centre at 7:30 p.m. ET. 

After a disappointing round-robin, the host, Canada (2-0-1-1), will try to avoid penalty trouble to advance to the medal round with a win. 

Howe has skated in all four games for Canada, with just four shots on goal and four penalty minutes, and is plus-1 while averaging 11:59 of ice time.

Meanwhile, Finland (2-1-0-1) finished ahead of Canada in the Group A standings, with Pieniniemi (goal and assist) and Kangas (one assist) contributing to the scoresheet when they could. 

Pieniniemi scored a goal in a 3-1 win over Germany and had an assist in a 4-3 overtime win over the United States. He's played in only three games, missing the Latvia game on Dec. 31. 

The 19-year-old has 12 shots on goal with four penalty minutes and a plus-1 rating, averaging 21:57 of ice time.

His teammate Kangas earned an assist on an empty-net goal in the Germany game. He has recorded four penalty minutes in four games and five shots on goal. He's averaged 16:03 of ice time. 

Although getting to the semifinals is no easy task, one or all three Penguins prospects could advance and, with wins on Thursday, play for a medal in the coming days.

However, winning these tournaments is never easy as the stakes increase. The last Pittsburgh prospect to medal at the World Juniors was Calen Addison, who won a gold medal with Canada in 2020.