Czech Republic's Jakub Vrana eager for opener against his Swedish friends

The Washington Capitals are holding on to André Burakovsky rather than loan him to Sweden for the world junior championship. Pool B will include another Washington first-round choice who plays in Sweden, though with Jakub Vrana gracing a darkhorse Czech Republic, so there is that.

Team Czech Republic will be an intriguing medal possibility, although a lot will have to break right for it to finish on the podium for the first time in a decade. One of those big factors likely include a strong tournament out of the 18-year-old Vrana, who is wearing his NHL draft slot on his back by wearing No. .13. Since he plays in the Swedish Hockey League with Linkopings, having a first game against Sweden on Friday is a treat.

"It's going to be fun," Vrana says. "I know lots of guys there [on Team Sweden] and it's going to be something special. But it's not too hard to treat it as another game. It's not the first time for me doing that. I've played against them many times, so I can handle it. It was a fun game when we played them at U18s."

The Czechs are on a good trajectory in age-group tournaments. While a WJC medal has been elusive dating back to that 2005 bronze, Vrana and a host of others on this season's squad are coming off winning a silver medal in April at the world under-18 championship. Vrana, for his part, is having a strong post-draft season with Linkopings with nine goals and seven assists for 16 points across 23 games.

"The team is in fourth place, we've been going up in the standings," says Vrana, whose teammate David Pastrnak, on loan from the Boston Bruins, also developed in Sweden before becoming a NHL first-round choice.

While the Czechs could only coax one goal by Finland's Ville Husso on Friday in their pre-competition opener in Napanee, they were able to cycle the puck well repeatedly, controlling the third period and overtime before dropping a 2-1 shootout decision. For an 18-year-old who's only 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds, Vrana looked impressive in how he used his body positioning to shield off bigger Finland checkers and help sustain offensive pressure.

"I've improved my thinking on the ice and I'm lot a stronger," is Vrana's assessment of his game.

"We have some really good skilled players," the Prague native adds. "We will do well if we put it together."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.