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No NHL Team Benefitted More From World Championship Than Predators | Column
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- No NHL Team Benefitted More From World Championship Than Predators | Column
(Nashville Predators)
The IIHF World Championship has had the unfortunate circumstance of competing with the Stanley Cup Playoffs for decades.
While European leagues are sending their top players as their seasons conclude, the NHL's talent is a mix of stars who have missed the playoffs or had early exits, young prospects and AHL players needing to fill roster spots.
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The absence of the NHL's top talent has led to North American opinion that the IIHF Tournament is "lesser" than others.
The Nashville Predators sent over a mix of four players to the games: Roman Josi (Switzerland), Ryan O'Reilly (Canada), Justus Annunen (Finland) and Ryan Ufko (United States).
Prospects Ryker Lee (United States) and Jack Ivankovic (Canada) were also named to team rosters. However, Lee was cut from the team after the pre-tournament play, and Ivankovic did not play.
Despite the stigma of the tournament to North American audiences, the Predators gained a lot, maybe even more than any NHL team, at the games.
Their "backup" goalie, Annunen, who had a perfect 8-0 record and a shutout win in the Gold Medal game to claim the top prize in his first pro international tournament.
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Coming off a red-hot end to the regular season, where he seemingly earned the starting spot over Juuse Saros and picked up the Predators' only shutout of the season, Annunen continued that momentum into international play.
In eight games, he had a 933 save percentage and a 1.47 goals-against average, and played the most minutes of any goalie at the tournament at 489:38.
The starting spot wasn't just given to him as he had to battle out Boston Bruins goalie Joonas Korpisalo , who was the starter in the 2017 tournament and a backup for Finland at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
It's a massive boost in Annunen's confidence, sending him into the offseason itching for September. This performance cements that Nashville has two of the best goalies in the league who are going to fight tooth and nail for the starting spot.
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Annunen's stellar World Championship also proves that the 2-year extension was the right move by the Predators front office.
Considering how bad the defense was, and still is, this past season, the Saros/Annunen tandem adds extra insurance that they can handle whatever is thrown at them.
Nashville's veteran defenseman, Josi, earned a fourth silver medal and tournament MVP with 12 points in 10 games, tying his career best at the tournament.
Battling through health issues this offseason, Josi came back for his 15th NHL season, only missing 14 games and flirting with 60 points. At 35, now 36 years old, he's proven that he is the Predators' most valuable piece on the blue line.
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He proved that even more at the World Championships, scoring his first professional hat trick in a 9-0 win over Hungary and proving that he is a defenseman who can not only shut down but also find the back of the net.
Josi was also the only Predators player to play in the World Championship and the Olympics.
He's only gotten better as he's gotten older, as he posted the same number of points in the 2024 games. It's heartbreaking that Switzerland has come so close to its first Gold Medal once again, only to fall short, but the silver lining is that Josi doesn't look like he's anywhere near hanging up his skates.
While O'Reilly didn't come home from much, he posted 9 points in 10 games and played a vital role in ushering in the league's next generation of talent.
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Despite what he may say, calling Canada's effort a "waste of time" after losing the Bronze Medal to Norway, 3-2 in overtime, O'Reilly extended his mentorship from Nashville to the international stage.
It's widely known that O'Reilly played a critical role in making the Predators' rookies and younger players feel at home in Nashville. He, alongside Filip Forsberg , took the younger players out to lunch, stayed to work with them after practice and assured them that if they needed help, they could get it from anyone.
There was a lot of controversy when Canada announced that 19-year-old Macklin Celebrini would wear the "C" over O'Reilly, John Tavares and even Sydney Crosby . However, knowing what O'Reilly has done in Nashville, this was the best choice, especially with O'Reilly wearing an "A."
Celebrini was also not the only young guy on the team, as Porter Martone, Fraser Minten , Emmitt Finnie and Sam Dickson were all a part of the youth movement on Team Canada.
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We may not hear about the guidance O'Reilly gave until training camp, but Celebrini's performance turned heads as he was second in the tournament in scoring with 14 points in 10 games.
Finally, Ryan Ufko made his World Championship debut, primarily playing as the seventh defenseman, but recording three points in eight games.
Ufko gained massive momentum this season as one of the top-scoring defenseman in the AHL and earned a Predators roster spot by the trade deadline. Like Annunen, he carried that momentum into this tournament.
Nashville is in dire need of a good defenseman, and Ufko could be the future. Specifically on the goal he scored against Austria, he continues to prove that he's a confident defenseman who can push play from the blue line and make skilled moves to create scoring opportunities.
The Predators need more "pushers" like Ufko and despite having limited time in Switzerland, he gained a lot from the ice time that he put in.
