Saturday was the second day of the World Junior Summer Showcase to determine the national team rosters for the United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden that will compete in the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, to be held Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Ottawa.
PLYMOUTH, Mich. — Zeev Bouium knows returning to the University of Denver will not only benefit his development, but it will also make it harder for the Minnesota Wild to reject him if he decides to turn pro.
The 18-year-old defenseman is one of eight returning players from the U.S. team that won gold at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship and will take part in the World Junior Summer Showcase, running through Aug. 3 at USA Hockey Arena.
Bouyum led all U.S. defensemen with three goals and a plus-11 rating at the 2024 World Cup, averaging 18:06 ice time in seven games. He was selected by the Wild in the first round (12th overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft, but Minnesota moved up one spot to select him, trading their 13th overall pick and a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft to the Philadelphia Flyers for the 12th overall pick.
Buium said he knew returning to Denver, where he won an NCAA championship last season, was the best decision at this point in his career.
“we [turning professional] But I had a really good, productive season as a freshman and a great year defensively, so I was really happy with how I played, and I thought, ‘If I keep doing this next year, I’ll be even better at the end of the year,'” Buium told NHL.com. “That was a big takeaway for me, and the Wild respected that. … They were thinking the same thing. I want to win back-to-back world junior championships and college championships. It’s really hard to win two in a row. I want to be on a team like that, experience it, see what it’s like, get that experience.”
Bouium, who was named National Collegiate Hockey Association Rookie of the Year and Offensive Defenseman of the Year, led NCAA defensemen with 50 points (11 goals, 39 assists) in 42 games, good for fifth among rookies.
Here are three things I learned on Saturday:
Hemming plays for Barrie
It’s been a very busy week for Emil Hemming, one of four Finnish WJSS players returning from the 2024 WJC.
The 18-year-old forward signed with Barrie of the Ontario Hockey League on Thursday and will play there this season with the possibility of turning pro. He was selected by the Dallas Stars in the first round (29th pick) of the 2024 NHL Draft.
“Obviously, I want to get used to the pace and the ice here,” Hemming said. “The game here is much faster. That’s the main reason why I decided to play in North America. There are a lot of good foreign players in Barrie, so it’s a good next step for me.”
Hemming, a right-hander, was selected 15th overall by Barrie in the 2024 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft on July 3.
“Every day I have to improve every skill, but if there’s one thing I need to work on it would be my quickness and puck protection,” he said.
Hemming said he will return to Finland after the summer showcase and continue training before joining Barry later next month. He earned 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in 40 games for TPS in Liiga, Finland’s top professional men’s league last season. He signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Stars on July 15.
“Going pro has been in my mind, but there’s no specific year to go pro,” Hemming said. “I want to have a good year in Barrie and then maybe look to move up to the American Hockey League or the NHL.”
Better late than never
Sweden arrived at the summer showcase a day late because a flight from Stockholm on Thursday was cancelled, but 19 of the 25 players invited to the event trained on Saturday.
“Our luggage and equipment is scattered around,” Sweden coach Magnus Havelid said. “We were checked in and ready to leave for Frankfurt, Germany, but there were activists at the airport that prevented us from leaving Stockholm. We were glad that we had one goalie, six defensemen and 12 forwards on the ice today. We hope that the rest of the luggage for the players who were not on the ice (Saturday) will arrive as soon as possible.”
Sweden only had one goalie available at practice, so Joey Slavik from the U.S. Hockey National Team Development Program Under-18 team volunteered as the second goalie.
Havelid said defenseman Tom Wilander, who was selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the first round (11th pick) of the 2023 NHL Draft, will not join Plymouth. The 19-year-old right-handed shooter was injured during the Canucks’ development camp and will not be on the ice until he recovers. Havelid said Wilander, who helped Sweden win a silver medal at the 2024 World Junior Cup, will likely join Sweden during the World Junior Championship selection camp in December.
Unfinished business
Ryan Leonard, the No. 8 pick by the Washington Capitals in the 2023 NHL Draft, said his decision to return to Boston College next season was to help the Eagles win more titles.
“Honestly, I still have some unfinished business,” he said. “If the outcome of the game against Denver had been the other way around (losing 2-0 in the NCAA Frozen Four championship game), things might have been a little different and I might have been able to play for the rest of the season with the Capitals. But Washington was really supportive and said they would be grateful and happy for me whenever I was ready. I just couldn’t bring myself to leave the team after losing that last game against Denver.”
The 19-year-old forward appeared in seven games for the United States at the 2024 World Cup, scoring six points (three goals, three assists), ranking second in goals (31), tied for first in power-play goals (13) and finishing tied for third in points (60) as a freshman last season.
“We’re two-for-four in 2023-24, we won the regular season championship and the Hockey East tournament, but we lost the Beanpot and the national championship, so obviously I want to go four-for-four,” he said, “plus I’m looking to fine-tune my game and make some adjustments that I believe will help me at the next level.”
