The Chicago Blackhawks were well represented at the 2024 World Junior Championship, with four prospects playing for Team USA and two prospects skating for Team Slovakia. The WJC is a great chance to familiarize yourself with some of the Blackhawks’ future players and to follow them as they develop into NHL players. This year, the tournament found a new home in Gothenburg, Sweden, after being hosted in Canada four straight times (three in Edmonton, including the canceled one, and one on the East Coast) and returned to the usual holiday season schedule.
Team Slovakia and Blackhawks prospects Adam Gajan and Martin Misiak were eliminated on Tuesday (Jan. 2) after falling to Team Finland in the quarterfinals. Team USA had Blackhawks prospects, Frank Nazar, Gavin Hayes, Oliver Moore, and Sam Rinzel, who captured the gold medal on Friday (Jan. 5) by defeating Sweden 6-2. Overall, all six prospects played well during this tournament and gave the Blackhawks and their fans something to look forward to in the future.
Frank Nazar
Surprisingly, Nazar did not score in this tournament but picked up eight assists, which was third-best. Even though more was expected from him in scoring, the Michigan Wolverine played exceptionally well on the defensive side and delivered some big hits. On Team USA, he took on more of a playmaker role on a team with many scorers, an encouraging sign from someone who may share the ice with Connor Bedard in the future.
His most newsworthy play came during a pre-tournament game against Sweden when he delivered a clean, legal hit to Jakob Noren that had the hockey community buzzing. He will return to Michigan, where he was having an outstanding sophomore campaign with eight goals and ten assists in 18 games.
Martin Misiak
Misiak picked up three assists in Team Slovakia’s five games while averaging just over 15 minutes of ice time per game. The 2023 second-round pick continued to live up to his reputation as a solid two-way player, hunting attackers through the neutral zone and attaching himself to them in the defensive zone while attracting a great deal of attention from his opponents with his presence in front of the net.
Adam Gajan
The Blackhawks’ second-round pick of 2023 started four of the five games Team Slovakia played in, sitting out in the final preliminary game against Team USA as Slovakia already had their quarterfinal spot secured. Gajan went 3-1 with a 2.50 goals-against average with a .916 save percentage. The 6-foot-3 netminder displayed his skills in the WJC as an energetic goaltender with good play-reading instincts and reactions, which has also been a trademark of his play this season as a member of the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League (USHL).
This follows his 2023 performance at the WJC, which saw him named the top goaltender in the tournament after a breakout performance for Slovakia that put them within a goal of knocking out Canada in the quarterfinals. Gajan’s .936 SV% was the highest in the tournament. He was dominant from the moment he took over as Slovakia’s starter despite being brought to the tournament as the third-string goalie.
Sam Rinzel
Rinzel was very physical on the Team USA blue line and picked up one assist in the tournament. He still needs to work on his puck handling and playmaking, as he had a turnover in the semifinal game that led to Finland’s first goal. He will head back to the University of Minnesota and hopefully will develop into the two-way top-four defenseman that was projected when the Blackhawks took him in the first round in 2022.
Oliver Moore
Moore started the tournament as Team USA’s extra forward but was elevated to the first line in the final game of pool play when teammate Jimmy Snuggerud came down with an illness. He made the most of that opportunity by scoring a goal and an assist in their quarterfinal victory over Latvia. He displayed his speed and tenacity on that line until Snuggerud eventually reclaimed his spot on the top line.
With speed being a major part of his game, his continued development at the University of Minnesota will be essential to helping the Blackhawks in the future and become that lethal scoring duo with Bedard that the team hoped for when they drafted him in the first round in 2023. He did flash his shot well and had quick hands throughout the tournament, which made him one of the more promising prospects coming into the 2023 Draft.
Gavin Hayes
Hayes got himself in a bit of trouble with the coaching staff and slipped to 13th forward on Team USA’s depth chart after being penalized for kneeing earlier in the tournament. He only skated in four shifts in the gold medal game. He did pick up two assists in the tournament and did help out on the penalty kill before his demotion. The 2022 third-round selection will return to the Flint Firebirds of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), where he had 19 goals and 17 assists in 27 games.
Related: US Wins 2024 WJC Gold Medal in Throttling of Sweden
Having six high-caliber prospects play in this tournament is a positive sign for the Blackhawks, especially as the team continues to struggle during the 2023-24 campaign. Hopefully, they will continue to help the Blackhawks in the near future, much like Bedard and Kevin Korchinski did after their success in the 2023 WJC.
