It’s the most wonderful time of the year: World Juniors season. The Sabres have seven prospects participating in the international U20 event in Gothenburg.
Unless you’ve spent the last two days glued to your TV watching every game like myself, you may have missed some stuff. So let’s recap how the Sabres prospects have fared so far:
Jiri Kulich, RW (CZE #25)
vs. SVK: 19:21 TOI, 1 A, 1 PT, -1, 3 SOG, 0.40 5v5 xP1
vs. NOR: 16:23 TOI, 3 G, 1 A, 4 PTS, +2, 8 SOG, 0.85 5v5 xP1
It was a tale of two games for Jiri Kulich to start the 2024 World Juniors. His first game of the tournament against Slovakia was…not the greatest. And it wasn’t the greatest for anyone on the Czechia team who dropped a 6-2 decision to Slovakia.
He had a classic Kulich rush opportunity in the 1st period:
However, the majority of the game just looked a lot like this (not too different than a Sabres game):
Jiri Kulich turned the dial all of the way up in Czechia’s game against a weaker Norway squad. Czechia won 8-1 and Kulich’s counting stats were impressive with 3 goals, 1 assist, and 8 shots. He generated 0.85 expected primary points at 5v5 which was 6th among all players on day two of the World Juniors.
A good chunk of the game was just a battle of Kulich’s shot vs. the goalie. And when you let Kulich get his shot off cleanly 5+ times then the goal siren may be going off a few times.
Here’s a clip of all three of Kulich’s goals vs. Norway (there’s some beauties):
Matthew Savoie, RW (CAN #26)
vs. FIN: 17:42 TOI, +0, 3 SOG, 0.68 5v5 xP1
vs. CAN: 13:33 TOI, 1 A, 1 PT, +2, 1 SOG, 0.25 5v5 xP1
Savoie came out of the gates flying to start the World Juniors, his line generated a bunch of dangerous opportunities. It’s one of the reasons why he generated 0.64 expected goals himself at 5v5 vs. Finland. The majority of those chances came early in the first period:
The slippery, dangerous play turned into more sluggish play that failed to break free for chances. That eventually led to Savoie picking up two not so great minor penalties due to his stickwork:
Savoie had a semi-quiet game in Canada’s 10-0 win over Latvia. He picked up a secondary assist and only generated 0.25 expected primary points at 5v5 (10th among Canadian forwards).
Those who expected Savoie to be “the guy” for Canada this World Juniors may be a bit disappointed in his performance so far because he certainly has not been “the guy” so far. He has certainly shown some flashes of excellence, but the consistency has not been there. Only 1 secondary assist on 15 Canada goals.
It’s a long tournament and there is still a lot of hockey left to be play. It can be difficult to get in a rhythm with how deep Canada is offensively, but Savoie should get there eventually.
Noah Östlund, C (SWE #12)
vs. LAT: 19:13 TOI, 2 A, 2 PTS, +1, 2 SOG, 0.85 5v5 xP1
Anton Wahlberg, LW (SWE #22)
vs. LAT: 18:12 TOI, 1 G, 1 PT, +1, 3 SOG, 0.13 5v5 xP1
I included the two Swedes together in this summary since they played the majority of the game vs. Latvia alongside each other. Wahlberg was on Östlund’s left wing on Sweden’s top line and they even played on the same power play unit with Wahlberg playing net-front with Östlund on the right flank.
The two recorded their first points of the tournament early on with a power play tally scored by Wahlberg:
Here’s some more power play work with both Östlund and Wahlberg on the ice. No goal on this shift, but some solid puck movement against Latvia:
Noah Östlund just looked like a player playing in his DY+2 season out on the ice. You can tell he’s very mature for this tournament, he was great at protecting the puck and winning board battles. He was just able to move freely on the ice vs. a weaker Latvia team:
There’s just so much about Östlund’s game that screams future NHLer. There’s obviously still the question of what type of NHLer he can become, but he still projects as an NHLer nonetheless. He is a center who just makes the game easier for his teammates. Great in puck support, but he can carry the puck himself. Underrated shot too.
Anton Wahlberg looked like the less mature forward of the two (that is more of a complement to Östlund than a knock on Wahlberg), but the intriguing traits are certainly there. His size, his rush ability, his sneaky offensive skill. It didn’t translate to much in Game #1 but it’s only a matter of time before his work behind the net results in more points.
Maxim Štrbák, D (SVK #4)
vs. CZE: 23:32 TOI, 1 G, 1 A, 2 PTS, +2, 5 SOG, 0.34 5v5 xP1
vs. SUI: 23:38 TOI, 1 A, 1 PT, +2, 1 SOG
The Sabres’ 2023 2nd round pick has been playing for Michigan State this season where he has 5 points in 15 games. It’s worth noting that Štrbák elevates his game to another level when has the opportunity to put on the Slovakia uniform.
He had 6 points in 7 games for Slovakia at the U18 Worlds last May and even had 3 points in 5 games for Slovakia at the last World Juniors as a 17 year old. With Simon Nemec being given a full-time role at the NHL level, Štrbák has been given the opportunity to be the #1 all-situations defenseman on the team.
Slovakia has a pretty good squad too. Not too deep on the blue line, but they are filled with NHL-drafted forwards and have a great goaltender in Adam Gajan. Štrbák has thrived in an elevated role, helping lead Slovakia to a 6-2 routing of Czechia in Game #1 and a 3-0 win over Switzerland in Game #2.
The game against Czechia was just a solid, well-rounded performance by Štrbák where his mobility was at the center of his game. He was a calming presence on the backend and was a key contributor to the team’s rush offense.
According to Mitch Brown’s tracking data, only one defenseman had more expected primary points (0.34 xP1) at 5v5 than Štrbák on the first day of the tournament. His rush shot contributions (3) were tied for the lead among defenseman on day one as well.
Here’s his lone goal of the tournament so far, Štrbák comes in from behind the play and capitalizes on the loose puck:
Maxim Štrbák continued his strong play against Switzerland, recording 0.53 expected primary points at 5v5 (2nd among any Slovakia skaters vs. SUI). He was extremely efficient in the transition game, carrying the puck into the zone and preventing entires. Just an all-around great game from him once again:
Norwin Panocha, D (GER #28)
vs. FIN: 17:34 TOI, +1, 1 SOG, 2 PIM, 0 5v5 xP1
The Sabres 2023 7th round pick skated in second pair minutes for Germany as they upset Finland 4-3 in their opening game of the tournament. Germany was expected to be a team fighting for their lives to avoid relegation this World Juniors, so picking up a win like this was huge.
Panocha did not have a very eventful first game in terms of offense, but that is to be expected from a player who only has 11 points in 30 games in the QMJHL this season. Nothing too fancy from the German in the first game but he got the job done.
Scott Ratzlaff, G (CAN #1)
vs. FIN: Did not dress
vs. LAT: Did not dress
The Sabres 2023 5th round pick did not dress for Canada in their first two games, Mathis Rousseau got both starts with Samuel St-Hilaire backing him up. It’s still unsure whether or not Ratzlaff will get a start this tournament, but he’s still eligible for the next one.
Stats from IIHF; tracking data from Mitchell Brown and Lassi Alanen