Axel Sandin-Pellikka hat trick & more Detroit Red Wings World Juniors action day one

The Detroit Red Wings had more action than just changing their head and defensive coaches on Thursday. 

Official World Junior Championships 2025 games began. The prospects are as plentiful this year, but it isn’t any less exciting for Detroit Red Wings fans who are itching for players to cheer for—many provide just the relief. Detroit Red Wings prospects are part of Team Sweden, USA, and Finland.

I've already briefly discussed the invites. These players include a super-star defenseman in the making, a rock-solid goaltender, and two intriguing forwards whom I can’t wait to watch. 

All of them had relatively good showings regardless of how much time they played. It is only day one, so players are working through the motions of getting back to playing high levels of hockey. These games are fast-paced, have lots of skill, and can be as thrilling as any ice hockey I’ve seen.

Also, we’ll take a look at day two’s schedule for Detroit Red Wings prospects.

Here’s a round-up of the Detroit Red Wings prospects at the World Juniors Championship 2025 day one; look to day two

Sweden:

During the second intermission, we heard from Team Sweden’s first goalscorer, Rasmus Bergqvist, who was assisted by Sandin-Pellikka. When asked about playing with Sandin-Pellikka, Bergqvist responded with:

"He always finds a solution."

Rasmus Bergqvist

Of all the great things that Axel Sandin-Pellikka did for Team Sweden, my favorite was being the first to greet his goaltender after a convincing 5-2 win versus Team Slovakia. 

Sandin-Pellikka finished the afternoon with time on ice at 20:55, second only to Tom Willander (Vancouver Canucks draft pick). He earned a hat trick plus an assist for a total of four points.

Not to take away from his performance, Sandin-Pellikka spent a bit too much time in the penalty box for my liking. Even more disappointing were the penalties themselves. The first penalty was against an opposing player who he lost positioning on and it’s not my preference when guys take that kind of penalty. While I understand that the opposing player was close to the net, Sandin-Pellikka could have moved his feet more and used his stick in a better way to keep the opposing player from getting to the net. (I do also believe the player might have gone down a bit too easily for my liking, but we can only control our actions, so that’s what I choose to focus on.)

The second penalty is a delay of game. It happens, but it’s something I’m keeping my eye on with Sandin-Pellikka.

Sandin-Pellikka is a high-end player who needs to stay out of the box for many reasons. Primarily, he’s more useful on the ice than off it for his team. Any valuable time he spends in the penalty box only hurts Team Sweden in a tournament that is decided in the most minute of details. Also, taking penalties against Team Slovakia isn’t the same detriment as taking a penalty against USA, Finland, or Canada, which they hope to face in later rounds of the tournament. It’s important that players remain on the ice instead of leaving their team shorthanded.

USA:

Trey Augustine was able to get his legs under him. 

Although he surrendered four goals while facing only 22 shots, Team USA scored 10 goals. Team Germany and its ice hockey program have come a long way. Contrary to the story that the shots on goal paint, Team Germany played a competitive game even through the middle of the second period. 

Particularly, when Team USA took a 4-2 lead, there was an odd man rush that Augustine doused to keep the lead intact. Who knows what would have happened if Team Germany scored on that shot, things like momentum might have swung differently. 

Playing Team Germany allowed Augustine to get warmed up and possibly even a bit more focused than before for the remaining games.

As for Max Plante, he earned an assist and had two penalty minutes during his time on ice, which was 10:15. 

He’s a spunky player with offensive prowess. I’m still not overly familiar with his game, so I look forward to continuing to watch him as this tournament goes along. 

Finland:

The main event was Team Finland versus Team Canada. 

With the tournament being held in Canada’s capital, it was only fitting that the stands were rocking for their home team.  

In his time on ice (19:28), Kiiskinen recorded no points and was -1 rating. It's clear that Jesse Kiisinen is a huge part of Team Finland.

Kiiskinen is a hard-working, high-motor player. Overall, I've enjoyed watching Kiiskinen play. He's an injection of high hockey IQ and determination that's desperately needed in the Detroit Red Wings organization.

At times, he could be slightly more aggressive or “have a nose for the net.” One play in particular, Kiiskinen was on the doorstep ready to score. Instead of going and getting the puck to score, he waited for it to arrive. However, it didn’t because a stick was in the way. Granted, his teammate was there trying to shoot the puck, but there can’t be too many cooks in the kitchen in that regard (when there’s a puck sitting right in front of an open net). 

Also, he can get stagnant within the defensive zone at times—getting caught puck-watching or flimsily putting his stick in a lane. Maybe he was tired (especially with the crazy time change, which is brutal) as the game went along, but I wanted to see him a bit more active all over the ice as the game went along. Especially in the offensive zone, I wanted to see him get to the inside of the ice more instead of just ripping shots from low-danger areas.

These players all had impacts on their teams and it will be interesting to watch more from each of them. They’re still doing a lot of learning and I’m not sure there is as much defense in this tournament overall as any National Hockey League (NHL) coach would demand but it’s still an ultra-competitive environment. 

Friday’s Action:

Team Germany vs. Team Finland at 3:30 p.m. ET on NHLN
Team Sweden vs. Kazakhstan at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN+