The World U18 Championship is set to kick off just outside of Dallas on Wednesday. The tournament will bring together competition from eight different countries, kicked off by a 1 P.M. ET bout between Slovakia and Finland. This is the last major tournament of the U18 season, and either the first or last chance for many young prospects to catch NHL attention. That gives us the perfect setting to once again borrow from MLB Trade Rumors’ Big Hype Prospect series to share four names to watch closely over the next 11 days. Each of our choices today will be top names eligible for the 2025 NHL Draft.
Four Big Hype Prospects
Matthew Schaefer, LD, Erie Otters (OHL; Team Canada)
17 GP – 7 G – 15 A – 22 P – 8 PIM – +21
There will simply be no player scrutinized more than Canadian defenseman Matthew Schaefer the moment he takes the ice at U18s. In a year with multiple strong options, Schaefer has found his way into the consensus first-overall ranking. He’s held onto that ranking even despite not playing any hockey since suffering a collarbone fracture at the World Junior Championship in December. Schaefer required surgery to address his injury, and this tournament quickly became the target date for a return. Recent reports have even suggested Schaefer has pushed for some extra rehab to make sure he was set up well for camp, rather than finding a new injury in the Erie Otter playoff push.
Well, April is here – and the hockey world is ready for Schaefer’s comeback tour… though, his spot with Canada isn’t confirmed yet. Schaefer is undeniably a star prospect when he’s on the ice. His style is dominant and commanding in all three zones. Schaefer is a poised defender and explosive on the counter-attack – in the shade of imminent NHL stars like Roman Josi, Alex Pietrangelo, and Drew Doughty. The young defender still has leaps and bounds to go before he’s at the height of those Hall-of-Famers, but this tournament will be his first chance to blaze their trail. A strong performance would cement his standing at first-overall, while a slow return could have teams considering the forward options like Michael Misa, James Hagens, or…
Anton Frondell, RW/C, Djugardens (HockeyAllsvenskan; Team Sweden)
29 GP – 11 G – 14 A – 25 P – 16 PIM – +11
If there were any player to pick as the ’boom candidate’ in this year’s tournament, it would be Anton Frondell. The stocky-built Swede had to overcome bad luck with injuries at the start of the season, but he’s spent the last three months dominating in the HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier pro league – on a line with fellow draft-eligible Victor Eklund. Frondell is a star prospect in this year’s class, with a mix of size, puckhandling, and offensive instinct that’s hard to beat. Where there’s a play to be made, Frondell is very often the one making it – and doing it with the care of a true tactician.
This tournament won’t be a show of Frondell’s talent – that much he’s proven. Instead, it will be an interesting test of how he can hold up to a center role. The Trångsund native has filled the middle-lane to great effect in prior international tournaments, but he’s spent nearly every minute of his league play at right-wing this season. His offense translates to either setting, but proving to pro teams that he projects as a top-end center could go a long way towards cementing his spot at the top of the draft. Frondell will be chasing top-five acclaim with a strong tournament. That is, if and when he joins Team Sweden. Frondell’s Djugardens is currently two wins back from a HockeyAllsvenskan championship.
Ondrej Stebetak, G, Portland Winterhawks (WHL, Team Czechia)
47 GP – 23-18-3 – 0.891 Sv% – 3.72 GAA
Outside of the realm of top-10 names, Czech goaltender Ondrej Stebetak has quickly drawn the spotlight. Team Czechia has gone out of their way to get him to Dallas as quickly as possible, after he played WHL playoff games as recent as this weekend. He leaves the Winterhawks just ahead of a Game 7 matchup against the Everett Silvertips – but for Stebetak, proving his might on the top stage is too valuable of a chance to miss. He should immediately step into Czechia’s starting role and bring a big-frame impact, even despite menial stats on the season. Stebetak has a mobile six-foot-two frame and great vision. He lines up to the puck well and adjusts to movement quickly, though he’s also had a bad habit of getting overwhelmed by intense play. He looks worthy of a top-100 pick at his best, but hard to trust at his worse. Stebetak posted a .932 save percentage and 5-1-0 record in six games with Czechia’s U18 club during international friendlies earlier this season. A repeat of that performance would go a long way towards vindicating pro scouts.
Mikkel Eriksen, C, Farjestad BK J20 (J20 Nationell, Team Norway)
40 GP – 22 G – 21 A – 43 P – 8 PIM – +1
It may be hard for some fans to believe, but no country is entering this tournament with as much momentum as Team Norway. The Norwegians have looked like a force to be reckoned with through pre-tournament friendlies. They beat Team USA with two final-minute goals and an overtime-winner in their first game on Texas ice, and continued to produce through the rest of their preliminaries. Norway is upmost led by the cohesion of their strong 2007 age group – which has spent the bulk of the last three seasons supporting the U18 club. But of the bunch, Mikkel Eriksen stands as the star. He’s a poised and speedy centerman who monitors the middle-lane and connects with his teammates well. Eriksen has scored the sixth-most points of any U18 skater in Sweden’s junior league this season, to go with four points at the World Junior Division-A Championship in December. He also scored four goals and five points in five games at this tournament last season. He’ll be the clear top-line center for Norway, and – with this momentum – could be the ringleader of some of the biggest upsets international hockey has seen in years.
Eriksen is the nephew of NHL veteran Espen Knutsen, who spent 207 games in the NHL before a neck injury limited his career in 2003-04.