It is that time of the year when Santa Claus and his elves are busy getting prepared to deliver presents to the children all around the world. When I was younger, that would have gotten me excited about the quickly approaching Christmas Day, but as time has passed the thrill of opening gifts has worn down. But one thing about this time of the year still has me on pins & needles with anticipation just like I was as a young lad……the World Junior Championship tournament!!

I can’t recall all the specifics off the top of my head, but when I close my eyes I see flashes of so many good memories revolving around this event. My cousins and I sneaking away from family holiday events to check out how Team Canada was doing. The epic battles between the Maple Leaf and the Sickle & Hammer that had the underlying theme of Democracy versus Communism in the 1980’s, as the Canadians & Soviet Union dominated that decade (combined won 8 out of 10 championships). The 1990’s were even better for a True Norther, as our country took 7 out of 10 championships during that span….probably one of the many reasons I will always love that decade. Jonathan Toews scoring on all three shootout attempts to seal a gold medal for the Canucks. Jordan Eberle’s heroics over two championships, where he set a record for most goals by a Canadian junior player (14). Of course, more recently young phenom Connor Bedard ended up re-writing the record books with 17 red lights lit in his two tournaments. And Canada has a new rival in the past decade, combining with the United States to win 8 out of the last 9 tournaments. So many good times….

As always, the action at the World Championship kicks off on Boxing Day, allowing us the opportunity to watch the best young hockey players in the world battle for a place in January 5th’s gold medal game. The Americans will be hosting the tournament in Minnesota and will be vying to string up three straight 1st place finishes with that advantage. Team Canada is coming off an embarrassing performance last year in Ottawa and finished so low they actually should have been slotted in Group A with the US & Sweden…but our southern neighbours opted to send us to Group B so that the powerhouse countries were more spread out. Here is how the countries are divided up this year:

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December 26th will see the teams most of us Winnipeg Jets’ fans will want to keep an eye on playing, as young defensive prospects Sascha Boumedienne & Alfons Freij will suit up for Sweden in the tournament opener against Slovakia, the United States will clash with Germany in the early evening, and Canada will square off with the Czech Republic in the night game.

If you want to check out the full schedule, here is a link to Hockey Canada’s website:

Schedule and Scores – 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship

Since I mentioned our two prospects suiting up for the World Juniors, lets dig a bit deeper into the two Swedish defensemen.

Sascha Boumedienne, D, Sweden

Drafted 28th overall in 2025, the 6’2″ 190 lb defender is known for his great skating abilities, allowing the Swede to impact play at both ends of the ice. The scouts say that Sascha is extremely attentive, constantly scanning the ice to read plays, and has the ability to fight for the puck when the time comes. Typically he creates offense as a playmaker, but his booming shot on the powerplay is also an asset. A common comparison from the experts I’ve seen is to the Montreal Canadien’s Mike Matheson.

Playing in his second season in the NCAA with Boston University, Boumedienne has put up 2 goals & 4 assists in 17 contests playing on the 2nd worst team in the league. We should probably expect a bigger offensive impact at this tourney though due to the younger competition, as the defenseman put up 13 assists in 7 games for Sweden last year.

Alfons Freij, D, Sweden

At the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, Winnipeg didn’t have a 1st rounder so their first selection was Freij with the 37th overall pick. The 6’1″ 196 lb defenseman does not have his fellow countryman’s impact on the game offensively, instead relying on strong defensive play and smart passing decisions to aid his club’s goals.

More in the mold of Dylan Samberg or Dylan DeMelo, Alfons has played all 25 games for Timra IK of Sweden’s top professional league as a 19 yr old and when you consider that his team only has 5 players with a positive plus-minus rating, his -1 confirms that he is responsible in his own zone.

Out of the two Jets’ prospects, I would think that Freij is the most likely to make the move to join the Manitoba Moose next season….so it will be nice to see what I can expect from the youngster when that happens.

Now that we have looked at the young men who are already part of the organization, let us turn an eye to the upcoming off-season to see who might be added to Winnipeg’s draft pool. Since our hockey club has been performing so poorly this season and find themselves projected to earn a very high draft pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, we also might be interested in watching the undrafted players involved to see who the True Northers might get with their 1st round selection. To aid in this glimpse into the Jets’ future, I have outlined the top 15 players the scouts are predicting will be drafted first.

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As you can see, our hockey team is currently slotted to have a top 5 pick depending on how the lottery balls fall. The 2026 draft pool is considered very deep and that doesn’t just extend to the number of players expected to make the NHL, but also has a larger than normal number of elite skaters at the top. Of course, we have all heard of the potential greatness of forward Gavin McKenna, but many scouts are also singing the praises of the likes of bulky defenseman Keaton Verhoeff and Swedish forward Ivar Stenberg as potential 1st overall selections.

McKenna ate up the WHL last season with Medicine Hat, putting up 129 pts in 56 contests for the Tigers. His move to the tougher NCAA hasn’t gone as well, though the kid is still scoring at a point per game pace for Penn State against the older competition. Verhoeff is another Canadian that made the trip south for this season, after amassing 45 pts in 63 games for the Victoria Royals. The 6’4″ defender has done well in North Dakota, scoring at a .688 pts/gm pace for the Fighting Hawks with a +6 rating. Stenberg is probably the closest to being NHL ready at this point due to him being the oldest of the bunch and his performance against actual fully grown men in the SHL. Ivar will be almost 19 yrs old when the Entry Draft happens and his almost a point per game scoring pace this year (.96) shows he has the ability to compete at a high level despite not being very big.

Admittedly, this early in the season my knowledge of the rest of the draft pool is limited as I didn’t expect my focus to turn to the Winnipeg Jets’ future so quickly in the 2025-26 campaign. Yet if you look at the final column, which outlines a players’ NHL Equivalent rating, you might get a bit better idea of the talent available. That statistic tries to say how many points a player would have in the NHL this year based on the level of competition & stats they have actually accumulated in their respective leagues. With the True Northers problems scoring this year, it would be nice to add someone who is already projected to score 25 to 40 pts in the big leagues. And there are 11 options in that range in just the top 15 prospects…..possibly some good news for us Jets’ fans in June??

If you would like to dive deeper into the pool, here is a link to Tankathon’s current mock draft with the top 3 rounds outlined. You can click on each players’ name to get even more information on them and start making your wish list for Winnipeg’s upcoming draft. Anything to distract us from the current state of the club, right?

2026 NHL Mock Draft with Lottery Simulator | Tankathon

Alright, think I have gone on long enough and my grumbling stomach suggests I have more urgent matters to take care of. We can use this page to comment about the World Junior tourney as it progresses….feel free to share your favourite WJC memories and whether Canada’s games played a part in your holiday festivities like my hockey loving family allowed. Ordering Chinese food on Christmas Eve & watching the upcoming young hockey stars battle on ice have always been traditions I’ve appreciated.

And of course, let me know if it excites you to think Winnipeg might be able to pick up a game changer in the upcoming draft? Have your eyes on someone in particular? Should Kevin Cheveldayoff make sure he drafts the much needed future 2C the Jets have needed for years or should they just take the best prospect available when their name is called?

I hope everyone has a great Christmas and Holiday season!! Take the time to appreciate your family & friends while feasting on the great foods that accompany such gatherings.