U-18 World Championship Scouting Notebook: the standouts from Day 3

Steven Ellis
Steven Ellis
U-18 World Championship Scouting Notebook: the standouts from Day 3

BASEL, Switzerland – Saturday saw the quietest day of the U-18 World Championship so far with just one game per city. And, unfortunately for viewers, neither game was remotely close.

The Czechs kicked off the action in Ajoie with a 7-1 win, giving them their first of the tournament. In Basel, USA scored four times in the first period and never looked back, eventually cooking Norway for a 12-1 score.

USA crushes Norway 12-1

  • With four goals and five points, Gabriel Perreault pointed at everyone’s draft boards and laughed. The son of former NHL faceoff ace Yanic Perreault, Gabriel smashed the all-time USNTDP points record of 117 that Auston Matthews had previously set. Publicly, nowhere has Perreault in the top 10, but today’s performance was one of the best standout games of anyone in the draft this year. He also landed a couple of power-forward, bulldozer-like hits that helped him establish his dominance.
  • As always, Perreault’s main setup guy was Will Smith, who scored once and added three assists. It seems like Smith takes a bit each game to get the momentum flowing, but once he got that first point, he seemed to find Perreault every time they hit the ice together.
  • Cole Eiserman was overshadowed despite scoring four goals. Projected to go in the top three of the 2024 NHL Draft, Eiserman unleashed his sharp shot every chance he could. His chemistry with James Hagens has been well-documented, but Eiserman has been lights out as an underaged player. And you’re going to see his name here a few more times over the next week.
  • Shoutout to Will Vote, part of USA’s secondary scoring attack. It raised some eyebrows to see him play along Eiserman and Hagens, but he played his best game in quite a while with how effective he was in the attacking zone. He recorded three assists and even attempted a lacrosse goal early in the third, too.
  • He had nothing on the scoresheet to show for, but Drew Fortescue was USA’s best defenseman tonight. He was engaged on the attack, took chances with the extra ice Norway was giving him and landed a couple of big hits. It’s hard to get a true reading on a guy in a lopsided match like that, but that was a strong showing.
  • After coming in following USA’s eighth goal, Norweigan goaltender Marius Bjornsgaard came in and made some big stops, including a nice sprawled-out glove save on Smith. Sure, he allowed a goal on the first scoring chance he faced, but given the situation, he made some big stops against a determined American offense.

Czechia smokes Germany 7-1

  • Eduard Sale has been a contention point for scouts this year. His skillset is among the best in the draft, and when it’s on display, he’s unstoppable. And then it feels like he’s napping too much during games some other nights and you never notice him. Today, with a shorthanded goal and another on a penalty shot in the first period, Sale was back in full control. Easily the best player on the ice today.
  • Michael Hrabal had yet another great game for the Czechs, stopping 29 shots in the victory. He made 39 saves in the 3-2 loss to Slovakia on Thursday, keeping his team in it despite getting heavily outplayed. He didn’t need to be special tonight, but he’s been the best goalie in the tournament thus far.
  • His goals didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things, but Vojtech Hradec scored on back-to-back shifts to make it 6-0. The 6-foot-3 forward, who isn’t eligible until 2024, hasn’t had much to show for on the scoresheet this year with Czechia’s U-18 team, so that was a nice little confidence-booster.
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