These players raised their draft stock the most at the 2025 U18 Worlds

The final showcase is in, with some members of the 2025 NHL Draft class turning in memorable performances at the U18 Worlds.

Others weren’t so fortunate.

The 2025 U18 Worlds, which wrapped on Saturday, featured a Canada romp of Sweden — a 7-0 bounce — to claim gold for the second consecutive event. It also saw Team USA eke out a 4-3 overtime win against Slovakia to claim bronze.

Swedish winger Filip Ekberg stole the headlines with his performance in Texas for the silver medal-winning squad. He was the tournament’s most valuable player and set a record for points by a player from Sweden that doubled as the sixth highest total in U18 Worlds history. Ekberg had a slow start to the season with Ottawa in the Ontario Hockey League, largely due to illness, but started producing in the back nine of the season and his play down the stretch and at this tournament should help his draft stock immensely.

Here are some of the other top performers from the U18s that upped their draft stock for 2025:

Sascha Boumedienne | D | Sweden 

Sascha Boumedienne also lit up the scoresheet for Sweden. The Boston University defenseman’s 14 points (one goal, 13 assists) were one more than the tournament record shared by Cole Huston‘s 2024 total and Ryan Murphy‘s 2011 tournament. Boumedienne, no. 37 in FCHockey’s Spring ranking for the 2025 draft, opened the tournament with a bang, scoring six points (one goal, five assists) in a 10-3 drubbing of Switzerland. He played over 25 minutes in Sweden’s 4-3 overtime semifinal win over Team USA and the gold medal game against Canada. Boumedienne certainly raised eyebrows with his performance and could start garnering first-round consideration in June.

“Boumedienne is a puck-moving, smooth-skating blueliner,” FCHockey crossover scout Kyle Pereira said. “His skating shines in the offensive zone in a big way, as he pairs his edgework and confidence really well. He is a very good point shooter and leaves his mark with very smart shots that almost always seem to hit the net. His shot has quite a lot of power as well, making him a threat to score from the top of the zone. He does an excellent job quarterbacking play while also sliding down when opportunities present themselves to be a shooting threat.

“Transitionally, his skating yet again shines, as he is able to lead rushes at times from the back end. He uses his size and strength well to protect pucks through the neutral zone as well, which aids his transitional abilities. But he also makes a strong impact with his breakout passes. Boumedienne was falling down the board down the stretch, but his steady improvements with Boston University at the end of the year and his scorching start to the U18s should allow him to creep back into the late first-round range in the 2025 class.”

LJ Mooney | C | Team USA

LJ Mooney had a productive tournament en route to helping the Americans claim the bronze medal on home soil. The pint-sized center showed off his playmaking ability, compiling 11 points (two goals, seven assists) in seven games. The 77th-ranked player on FCHockey’s Spring chart will face some tough challenges due to his small stature but caught some eyeballs for his play at the U18 Worlds. Mooney put up points in bunches, with four multipoint games — but was held off the scoresheet in three games. Mooney registered two shots against Sweden in the semifinals but couldn’t score. He only played six minutes in the Americans’ bronze medal overtime triumph over Slovakia because of injury. Still, he’s an immensely talented player, but also a very divisive prospect.

“When he has the puck, he makes magic happen,” Pereira said. “His playmaking is on full display throughout the game. His vision with the puck is excellent, as he seemingly knows where to put the puck to set up his teammates before the play happens. Mooney’s edgework is also on full display, as he dances with the puck at times. However, when he isn’t dominating a shift, he isn’t super noticeable. He works hard off the puck, is willing to engage in battles, and gives opponents some trouble, but his smaller stature limits his overall impact. He mostly plays from the perimeter, which does not help his projection to the NHL.

“It’s a tough evaluation because Mooney has a ton of skill, which is evident from this game, but the consistency from shift to shift isn’t always there. His defensive impact is also very limited, and unless he can build out a stockier frame moving forward, it will only get tougher for him in that area. Mooney is certainly deserving of praise and absolutely deserves a boost to his stock in the 2025 draft, but there are still some legitimate concerns about how he will transition to higher levels of play.”

Jack Ivankovic | G | Canada

Jack Ivankovic, fresh off leading the OHL in wins by a draft-eligible goaltender with 25, was sensational for Canada. The Brampton netminder posted a .961 save percentage across six games. This was good for third in tournament history behind Kari Lehtonen and Jack Campbell. The 47th-ranked player on FCHockey’s Spring ranking had a challenging playoffs in the league, but cemented himself as a top goalie in this class with his performance in the tournament.

“Ivankovic is a calm, collected goaltender who almost always looks poised and is equal parts anticipation, athleticism, and technical skill,” FCHockey crossover scout Aaron Vickers said. “He’s on the smaller side, there’s no avoiding that — but he does well to prevent holes within his body from appearing wider than he is. He stays square to the puck and doesn’t have to make desperation saves because his anticipation and movements allow him to be positioned correctly on the vast majority of pucks. He arrives early on lateral movements because of that anticipation and skating ability. Ivankovic is extremely smooth on his skates and has quiet feet. He really fights to make sure he doesn’t release a rebound. When he’s forced to release one, he stares them down and rarely loses track of where he’s putting the puck when he can’t trap it clean.

“From the outside it doesn’t look like things faze him mentally, either. He’s a calm-and-collected, water-off-a-duck type. Overall, there’s not much to nitpick in Ivankovic’s game — at least the things that are in his control. The big knock will be his size and if he can continue to develop his assets to a point that it isn’t an issue at higher levels. He’s one of the top goalies in the 2025 draft class, undisputedly, and if I had a thin goalie pipeline, I’d consider taking Ivankovic in the second round.”

It wasn’t just the 2025 draft class that put forth some performances at the U18 Worlds.

The tournament also offered a sneak peek at some of the top 2026 NHL Draft eligible skaters, too.

In particular, it was hard to not notice the efforts of Canada defenseman Keaton Verhoeff and Sweden winger Ivar Stenberg.

Keaton Verhoeff | D| Canada

Verhoeff put on a show in his first full Western Hockey League season with Victoria. The 16-year-old finished with 45 points (21 goals, 24 assists) in 63 regular season games, and added another 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in 11 playoff games. The 6-foot-4 defenseman didn’t play in Canada’s first two games but, once entering the lineup, he had over 20 minutes of ice time in the five games he played. Verhoeff led Canada in time and registered a pair of assists in the semifinals against Czechia. Keep an eye on Verhoeff as one of the top defenders in the 2026 class.

“Verhoeff is a defender that does it all,” FC Hockey chief scout Samuel Tirpak said. “Offensively really good, great gap control defensively, positionally sound, big, strong, great skater. He’s just so well-rounded and plays a ton of minutes. Verhoeff, to me, for those reasons, showcased himself, as well as with his season in the WHL and now the Under-18 World Championship, as the top defender available for the 2026 draft.”

Ivar Stenberg | RW | Sweden

Stenberg led his age group in production with 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in seven games. He dominated at the J18 and J20 levels in Sweden this season, producing well over a point per game — though he understandably struggled to produce with just three points (one goal, two assists) in 25 regular season games in the SHL. He upped his game with six points (three goals, three assists) in 12 playoff games. It’s still early, but Stenberg is positioning himself to be one of the early names called in 2026.

“Stenberg had a standout tournament for Sweden,” Tirpak said. “So incredibly dominant offensively, great in transition, creates a scoring chance, and is noticeable every time he steps on the ice. He is a really smart player. His move to the SHL halfway through the season made him learn pro habits early, and those were showcased greatly here at this tournament. While I think the number one choice for the 2026 draft is pretty set with Gavin McKenna, Stenberg would be projected to be in the conversation for a potential top-5 or even top-3 selection in the 2026 draft.”

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