The 2024 World Junior Championship (WJC) has come to an end and Team Sweden has fallen short of the gold medal yet again. They made a valiant effort on their way to the gold medal game but ultimately lost to a powerhouse American team that housed a crazy amount of first-rounders and elite prospects.
The Vancouver Canucks had three of their top prospects representing the Tre Kronor at the 2024 WJC in Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Tom Willander and Elias Pettersson. They all had solid tournaments with Lekkerimaki being named to the All-Star team and winning the tournament MVP award. Willander and Pettersson had their moments as well, but they couldn’t push Team Sweden to their first gold medal since 2012.
Jonathan Lekkerimaki Sniped His Way to the Top
Every Canucks fan was hoping that Lekkerimaki would stand out at this year’s World Juniors. Well, he not only stood out, but he was Sweden’s best player. He hit the ground running on the first day of the tournament with his first two goals and was never shut out on the scoreboard en route to the silver medal. He finished the festivities with seven goals and ten points and was a force on the power play with his lethal wrist shot and one-timer.
With two multi-goal games – including coming up clutch in the semi-final against eventual bronze-medal winners Team Czechia – Lekkerimaki showed everyone why he was so highly touted before the 2022 Draft and is now considered the Canucks’ top prospect ahead of 2023 first-round pick Willander. He was dangerous and dynamic every game, firing everything at the net (twice he had nine shots) and finishing with 34 shots on goal. He looked like a man on a mission in his third and final appearance at the WJC but unfortunately won’t walk away a champion after three tries.
Tom Willander & Elias Pettersson’s Solid Defence Led the Way
Lekkerimaki led the way offensively for Sweden, while fellow Canucks prospects Tom Willander and Elias Pettersson locked it down on the blue line. Averaging just under 20 minutes a night, Willander finished with a goal and two assists in seven games and a plus-8 in the plus/minus column. He displayed his two-way acumen and mobility multiple times during the tournament and even got his first WJC goal. Coming off a memorable performance at the 2023 U18 World Championship where he boosted his draft stock with three goals and eight points in seven games, he didn’t factor into the scoring as much, but played solid defensively and moved the puck with aplomb.
Pettersson, meanwhile, although he finished as a minus-2, showcased his physicality and toughness with multiple highlight reel hits. He was a workhorse for Sweden on the penalty kill and five on five, averaging 20 minutes a night and matching up against some of the top talent in the tournament. His worst performance came against Finland in their only loss where he finished with an ugly minus-3 and his lowest ice time at 17:23. He bounced back, however, against Switzerland with an assist and 19:01 of ice time, 21:28 in the semifinal against Czechia, and 19:13 in the gold medal game versus the United States.
Canucks Fans Will See Pettersson & Lekkerimaki in North America Next Season
All in all, both Willander and Pettersson solidified their spot as two of the Canucks’ top defensive prospects, and Lekkerimaki as their top prospect overall. Next season, fans will get to see all of them in North America, and two of them possibly close to home in Abbotsford, as general manager Patrik Allvin said in a recent interview that the organization will be pushing to get both Pettersson and Lekkerimaki over to the American Hockey League in 2024-25.
In fact, Allvin said that Pettersson will be coming over at the end of his season in Europe to play for the Abbotsford Canucks. He will probably get a similar treatment to Filip Johansson as he joined the team for the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs and played three games. They will have to wait a little bit longer for Lekkerimaki as Allvin said it will be next season for him. Regardless, everyone will get to follow the trio next season in North America as Pettersson and Lekkerimaki will be in Abbotsford and Willander will play his sophomore year at Boston University where he is having a solid freshman campaign with three goals and eight points in 15 games.
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