Four Golden Knights Prospects To Play In Resumed World Junior Championship

The 2022 IIHF World Junior Championships were halted back in late December 2022 as COVID-19 ran rampant through the tournament. Now eight months later, the IIHF will resume the tournament with the rescheduled World Juniors running from August 9th to August 20th.

Three Vegas Golden Knights prospects will compete in the revived tournament in Edmonton, Alberta, this August. Golden Knights prospect Jakub Brabenec, who represented Czechia, and Jesper Vikman of Sweden will not return to play in the WJC.

The remaining four Vegas Golden Knights prospects are Lukas Cormier of Canada, Jakub Demek of Slovakia, Carl Lindbom of Sweden, and Matyas Sapovaliv of Czechia.

Here’s a mini-scouting report on the quartet.

Lukas Cormier- Canada- D

Lukas Cormier is an offensively gifted defenseman that was drafted by the Golden Knights in the third round of the 2022 NHL Entry Level Draft. With the Charlottetown Islanders of the QMJHL, Cormier scored 33 goals and 48 points for 81 points in 62 games. He has been named the best defenseman in the QMJHL two years in a row. He is also the only player here who has signed an NHL contract with the Golden Knights, a three-year entry-level contract that will take him to the 2025-26 season.

I would keep an eye on him, Golden Knights fans.

Jakub Demek- Slovakia- C

Demek is a 19-year-old winger that was drafted in the fourth round, 128th overall in 2021. At 6-foot-4 and 196-pounds, Demek is no slouch and was a near point-per-game player with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL. He scored 20 goals and 34 assists for 54 points in 55 games in 2021-22.

Matyas Sapovaliv- Czechia- C

Sapovaliv is the most recent Golden Knights draft pick on this list. He was drafted in the second round of the 2022 draft by the VGK, making in their first draft pick. He is a sizy but skilled center who last played with the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL in 2021-22. There he scored 18 goals and 34 assists for 52 points in 68 games.

Carl Lindbom- Sweden- G

Lindbom is a 2021 seventh-round pick by the Golden Knights and a 6-foot-1 goaltender. He played the 2021-22 season with Djurgardens and put up a .913 save percentage.

You can watch the 2022 IIHF World Juniors on NHL Network or TSN in Canada. A full schedule of games can be found here.