Gothenburg, Sweden (WGR 550) - A trio of Buffalo Sabres prospects come away from the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship with medals on Friday in Sweden.
2022 first-round pick Noah Ostlund and 2023 second-round pick Anton Wahlberg both came up short of a gold medal, earning a silver medal in a 6-2 loss to the United States in the Gold Medal Game.
Ostlund finished in a tie for fourth place in scoring for the tournament with 10 points (3+7) in his seven games played. He was able to pot an assist in Friday's loss in the Gold Medal Game to help close the gap before the second intermission at 3-2, United States.
The 19-year-old was also named as a Top-Three Player for Sweden in the tournament, as he finished second in team scoring, behind only linemate Jonathan Lekkerimaki (Vancouver Canucks), who was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
In his two World Junior Championships played in 2023 and 2024, Ostlund finished with four goals and 10 assists for 14 points in 14 games played. However, he only comes away with a silver medal in his two tournaments played.
As for Wahlberg, he finishes his first World Juniors tournament with a goal and two assists in seven games playing alongside Ostlund and Lekkerimaki. He scored Sweden's opening goal of the tournament in the preliminary round against Latvia.
Wahlberg is eligible to play for Sweden again in the 2025 tournament when it returns to Canada in the nation's capital of Ottawa.
Meanwhile, another first-round pick in 2022 came away with the bronze medal on Friday, as winger Jiri Kulich helped lead Team Czechia to a wild 8-5 win over Finland.
In the final game of the tournament for Czechia, Kulich put up a four-point effort to help the Czechs come back from a 5-2 second period deficit to come away with some hardware. He was also named Czechia's Player of the Game, as voted on by the team.
After opening the scoring for Czechia with a power play goal in the first period, Kulich scored his second goal of the game in the third period on another man advantage chance to close the gap to 5-4.
Then with time dwindling down in regulation time, Kulich was able to get a shot on goal towards the Finnish net, which left a rebound for teammate Ondrej Becher, who tied the game at 5-5 with 1:56 to go.
Just 15 seconds later, Czechia took the lead for good with a goal from defenseman Tomas Hamara (Ottawa Senators), whose shot fluttered through traffic and past Finnish goalie Niklas Kokko (Seattle Kraken). Kulich picked up the primary assist to help put the Czechs in the drivers seat.
Czechia added two more goals into an empty net to cap off a four-goal stretch in 50 seconds and cap off a bronze medal victory, and earn the country their second medal in as many years.
For Kulich, he finished the 2024 World Juniors with six goals and six assists for 12 points in seven games. His performance also earned the 19-year-old a nod as a Top-Three Player for Czechia in the tournament, as well as a place on the Media All-Star team.
Kulich caps off his three years playing at the IIHF World Junior Championship with 15 goals and 14 assists for 29 points in 21 games played. That's good enough for fourth on the all-time scoring list among Czech players at the tournament.
In addition, Kulich finishes his World Juniors career with a silver medal (2023), a bronze medal (2024), a Media All-Star team nod in both the 2023 and 2024 tournament, and his Top-Three Player for Czechia honor in 2024.
How did other Sabres prospects fare at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship?
Buffalo's other 2022 first-round pick taking part in this tournament, Matt Savoie, wasn't able to help the Canadians past the quarterfinal round. The 20-year-old finished this year's event with just an assist in four games played.
Savoie did miss a game to close out the preliminary round with a lower-body injury, but was able to return to the lineup in time for their quarterfinal round loss to the Czechs.
Also on the Canadian roster for the World Juniors was 2023 fifth-round goaltender Scott Ratzlaff, who did not dress for any games as the third goalie.
Ratzlaff will be eligible to return next year and play for Canada at the 2025 tournament.
Meanwhile, 2023 second-round defenseman Maxim Strbak put up a solid tournament on the blue line for Team Slovakia, but they came up just short in the quarterfinal round against the Finns.
In five games played for Slovakia, Strbak finished the tournament with a goal and six assists for seven points. Not only was he named as a Top-Three Player for Slovakia at the tournament, but also finished as one of the top-scoring defensemen.
Strbak will also be eligible to return for the 2025 World Juniors and play for Slovakia in Ottawa.
As for 2023 seventh-round defenseman Norwin Panocha, he helped Germany survive the relegation game against Norway to remain in the tournament's Top Division for 2025.
In his five games play for the Germans, Panocha scored a goal primarily as a bottom-pair defenseman. He, too, will be eligible to play for Germany at the 2025 World Juniors.
