The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC) is one of my favorite hockey events of the year. It’s a lot like why I enjoy AHL hockey. It’s nice to see prospects play before their game is highly coached and more polished at the NHL level. 

I usually end up jealous of teams who have drafted players who stand out to me in the tournament. But, it’s also widely known that a player’s performance at the WJC doesn’t predict what their NHL career will look like. Anyway, . . . 

With the Quarterfinals of the 2021 World Juniors beginning today, I took a look at how the Blackhawks prospects are performing in the tournament. 

Czech Republic

For the Czech Republic, the Blackhawks have two players in the lineup. I’ve been rather impressed watching the Czechs. They play a tough game. They block a lot of shots and clog up the slot to make plays difficult for their opponents. The Czech Republic enters the Quarterfinals with a 2-2 record scoring 10 goals and allowing 14. They take on Team Canada at 6:00 pm (CST). 

Michal Teply (19 year old winger) -  He was a 4th round draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019 going 105th overall. Last season in the WHL with the Winnipeg Ice, Teply 29 goals and 34 assists for 63 points in 53 games. In last year’s WJC, he ended the tournament with 5 assists in 5 games. 

So far this year, Michal Teply has 2 assists in 4 games.

Michael Krutil (18 year old defenseman) - He was a 4th round pick of the Blackhawks in 2020 going 110th overall. In last year’s U18 tournament, Krutil put up 1 assist in 9 games. In the WJC so far this year, he’s played 3 games with 0 points. But, his ATOI is 19:42, so he’s getting playing time. I’m hoping he is in the lineup against Canada tonight. I’ll be keeping an eye on his play. 

United States

The Blackhawks have one player in the lineup for Team USA. They could have had 3, but Commesso and Vlasic were unfit to play as highlighted at the bottom of this piece. After losing their first game to Russia, Team USA has been on fire - winning their next 3 games and out-scoring their opponents 22-0. I’d say that’s pretty good. . . 

They take on Slovakia tonight at 9:30 pm (CST). 

Landon Slaggert (18 year old C/LW) - He was a 3rd round pick of the Blackhawks in 2020 going 79th overall. Last season with the U18 US National team, Slaggert put up 13 goals and 11 assists for 24 points in 47 games. This season, he is playing college hockey at Notre Dame. In 6 games, he’s scored 1 goal and 2 assists. 

In the WJC so far, he’s played 4 games and gone scoreless. As the tournament has gone on, I’ve heard his name more and more during games. He’s had some good looks, some shot blocks, and some key faceoff wins. So, going scoreless on the 4th line isn’t a huge deal so far when he’s doing other things right. It is pretty surprising he hasn’t picked up any points with how Team USA has been scoring though. Hopefully tonight he can get his first. 

Canada

Oh, Canada . . . The Blackhawks’s top prospect was supposed to play for Canada. He was supposed to CAPTAIN Team Canada. Then, in a horrible twist of bad luck, Kirby Dach suffered a broken wrist in a pre-tournament game. He came back to Chicago, had surgery, and will be out for 4-5 months. So, that sucks. 

Team Canada has been perfectly fine without him, though. They’ve gone 4-0 outsourcing their opponents 33-4. My, oh my. 

As stated above, Canada takes on the Czech Republic at 6:00 pm (CST)

Unfit to play 

The Blackhawks were supposed to have four more prospects in this year’s tournament including their 2020 first round draft pick. Unfortunately, they were deemed unfit to play. 

Lukas Reichel (GER) - Lukas Reichel was taken in the first round of the 2020 Entry Draft at #17  by the Chicago Blackhawks. Last season with Eisbären Berlin, he put up 12 goals and 12 assists for 24 points in 42 games. In 3 games with Eisbären Berlin this season, he has 1 assist. Contracting COVID-19 kept him out of the 2021 WJC. 

Drew Commesso (USA) - Drew Commesso was the second round draft pick (#46) of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2020. He’s a 6’2” goaltender playing for Boston University. Last season with the U18 US National Team, Commesso went 18-7-0 with a .920 sv% and 2.05 GAA. BU is set to begin their 2021 season on January 8. 

Alex Vlasic (USA) - Alex Vlasic was a 2019 second round pick (#43) of the Chicago Blackhawks. Last season with Boston University, Vlasic played 34 games and notched 4 assists. He will join teammate Drew Commesso in beginning their season on January 8. 

Anttii Saarela (FIN) - Antti Saarela was a 2019 4th round pick (#123) of the Chicago Blackhawks. Last season with Ilves (Liiga), Saarela played 40 games scoring 4 goals and 8 assists. This season, he’s played 18 games notching 4 goals and 6 assists. He missed the WJC due to injury. 

You can find the schedule for remaining WJC games here: https://www.nhl.com/news/wjc-tournament-schedule/c-319482978