The Winnipeg Jets could be very well represented at the 2025 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship (WJC) in Ottawa this holiday season.
Here, we’ll dive into the four candidates to represent their countries at the exciting and high-profile under-20 hockey event that begins Boxing Day and runs through Jan. 5.
Colby Barlow — Canada
Barlow got off to a slow start after being dealt to the Oshawa Generals as the main part of a massive trade between the Generals and Owen Sound Attack, but is still a strong candidate to crack Canada’s roster.
Related: Projecting Canada’s Roster for the 2025 World Junior Championship
The Jets’ first-round 2023 pick should have a chip on his shoulder to do so. Late last year, he suffered a back injury that quashed his chance of playing for Canada at the 2024 WJC in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Barlow, who is now 19 and hails from Orillia, Ontario, is up to seven goals and three assists for 10 points in 19 games after going pointless through his first six. Prior to being traded to the Generals, he captained the Attack for two seasons, posting 79 and 58 points, respectively, and notching 40-plus goals in each campaign. He is known to possess a wicked shot and for his physical play.
Barlow is equally — if not more — well known for his maturity and work ethic, two attributes that could act as stabilizing forces for Canada and give him a leg up over his competitors, even if they have better counting stats. Canada will enter the 2025 tournament in need of a rebound from a poor 2024 showing where they were bounced by Czechia in a quarterfinal upset and did not look cohesive as a group at all.
Barlow was invited to participate in Canada’s World Junior Summer Showcase in late July and early August, meaning team brass certainly has their eyes on him.
Alfons Freij — Sweden
Freij, a smooth-skating defenseman and the Jets’ second-round 2024 selection, is in his first year of WJC eligibility at 18 years old. Despite that. he should have a shot at making a Sweden club that lost to the United States in the gold-medal game last year and has not won gold since 2012.
Freij, currently playing for IF Björklöven in the second-tier Swedish professional league HockeyAllsvenskan, is known for having incredibly well-developed speed, agility, and puck moving skills for someone so young. He has strong offensive upside — something even defenders need to have at least some of in a historically high-scoring tournament like the WJC — and has been described as a “dynamic creator.” He put up 33 points (14 goals, 19 assists) in 40 games last season for the Växjö Lakers J20 team in the Swedish Hockey League.
Related: Winnipeg Jets 2024 NHL Draft Recap
Freij previously represented Sweden at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and at the 2024 U18 WJC. He also has decent size at 6-foot-1, 196 pounds and is currently getting experience playing in a professional league with no age limit in Björklöven, where he has one goal and three assists in 16 games and a plus-2 rating.
Markus Loponen — Finland
Loponen, a centre from Oulu, is not a lock by any means to make Finland’s team in his first year of eligibility, but is in the conversation.
The Jets’ fifth-round 2024 selection, who plays for the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) Victoria Royals, is in his first season of North American hockey. That may be a knock against him considering the tournament is in Canada this year rather than in Europe, which has larger ice surfaces he’s more accustomed to.
Loponen, who prior to this season played for U18 and U20 Oulun Karpat clubs in his hometown, has six goals and six assists for 12 points in 20 games for the Royals.
At only 18, he may be a more serious contender for the 2026 Finland WJC team, as he’ll have had the chance to grow and get a full season of North American hockey under his belt. He already has some leadership experience, captaining Karpat’s U20 club last season and putting up 25 goals and and 29 assists for 54 points in 49 games.
He previously represented Finland at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
Brayden Yager — Canada
We opened with a player with aspirations of playing for Canada in Barlow, and we’ll close one set to return to the club in a big role in Brayden Yager.
Yager, who the Jets acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in August in exchange for disgruntled prospect Rutger McGroarty, played in last year’s tournament, notching two goals and three assists for five points in five games. He could easily be the team’s first- or second-line centre this time around and will provide his dangerous release, a veteran presence, and leadership to Canada’s quest to get back into the medal table.
The Penguins’ first-round 2023 selection and Saskatoon product is in his fifth season with the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors and was named captain in October. The 19 year old, who will turn 20 on Jan. 3, sits second on the team with 10 goals and 14 assists for 24 points in 17 games.
Be sure to stay tuned to The Hockey Writers for extensive coverage of every WJC team leading up to and during the tournament.