{"id":503816,"date":"2026-01-09T13:32:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T13:32:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/503816\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T13:32:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T13:32:28","slug":"how-3-prospects-fared-at-world-juniors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/503816\/","title":{"rendered":"How 3 prospects fared at World Juniors"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championship ended Monday with Sweden earning the gold medal after defeating Czechia 4-2 in the final. The young skaters \u2014 including the three Chicago Blackhawks prospects \u2014 showed what they have to offer their future professional teams.<\/p>\n

The Hawks had at least one gold medalist in each of the last five World Junior championships: Connor Bedard, Landon Slaggert, Ethan Del Mastro, Colton Dach, Kevin Korchinski, Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, Sam Rinzel and Gavin Hayes. A new name joined the list this week.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how the three Hawks prospects fared at the World Juniors.<\/p>\n

1. Anton Frondell
\n\"Sweden'sSweden’s Anton Frondell scores the winning goal on Finland goaltender Petteri Rimpinen during the shootout of a semifinal at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. Sweden won 4-3 and went on to win the championship. (Christopher Katsarov\/The Canadian Press via AP)<\/p>\n

For the first time since 2016, neither the United States nor Canada appeared in the World Juniors final. Instead, Sweden reigned victorious thanks to Frondell\u2019s heroics.<\/p>\n

The 2025 No. 3 pick<\/a> scored five goals, the second most on the team. The most important horn sound wasn\u2019t included in that total, though.<\/p>\n

In a semifinal against Finland, Frondell scored the winning goal in a shootout on his third attempt to send Sweden to the championship game. The crowd at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minn., couldn\u2019t believe what they saw, and the 18-year-old couldn\u2019t believe what he did, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cI blacked out,\u201d Frondell said. \u201cIt was an amazing feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was named the tournament\u2019s best forward and earned a spot on the all-star team. He scored the first goal of the game three times.<\/p>\n

Frondell\u2019s motivation to kick things off should be a welcome addition to the Hawks when he skates with Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar and company.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been really good,\u201d Sweden coach Magnus H\u00e4velid\u00a0said. \u201cHe\u2019s a leader for us on ice, off ice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frondell spent this season skating for the SHL\u2019s Djurg\u00e5rdens IF. He has 15 points (10 goals, five assists) in 25 games.<\/p>\n

2. AJ Spellacy
\n\"U.S.U.S. forward Aj Spellacy scores past Slovakia goalie Michal Pradel during the second period at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship on Dec. 29, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (Abbie Parr\/AP)<\/p>\n

Team USA was in a tough spot in a quest for a three-peat with an entirely new roster. Spellacy joined the team with hopes of making his mark in the tournament.<\/p>\n

A third-round pick in 2024<\/a>, Spellacy, 19, was the fastest skater at the World Juniors, revving up to 23.7 mph. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound right winger showed his strength on the penalty kill too.<\/p>\n

The U.S didn\u2019t win a medal for the first time since 2022, but Spellacy represented the Hawks well, totaling four points (one goal, three assists) in five games.<\/p>\n

Spellacy has spent the last four seasons with the OHL\u2019s Winsdor Spitfires, compiling 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) this season.<\/p>\n

3. V\u00e1clav Nestra\u0161il
\n\"CzechiaCzechia forward Vaclav Nestrasil passes the puck against Canada defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson during an IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship semifinal Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (Matt Krohn\/AP)<\/p>\n

Picked in the first round at No. 25<\/a> in 2025, V\u00e1clav Nestra\u0161il chose the college path after two years skating for the USHL\u2019s Muskegon Lumberjacks. He\u2019s learning a thing or two from the Minutemen.<\/p>\n

The UMass freshman was an offensive anchor for Czechia, setting up teammates with scoring chances. His eight points (two goals, six assists) lifted his country to the final before losing to Frondell and Sweden.\u00a0The future teammates had a nice moment in the handshake line after the final.<\/p>\n

In 18 games with UMass, the right winger has 20 points (10 goals and 10 assists).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championship ended Monday with Sweden earning the gold medal after defeating…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":503817,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[225861,27396,12957,225862,960,291,225863,5386,1818,24365,225860],"class_list":{"0":"post-503816","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-2026-world-juniors","9":"tag-aj-spellacy","10":"tag-anton-frondell","11":"tag-blackhawks-prospects","12":"tag-chicago","13":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","14":"tag-hawks-prospects","15":"tag-il","16":"tag-illinois","17":"tag-vaclav-nestrasil","18":"tag-world-juniors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115865396855888164","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}