Anaheim Ducks Prospects Spotlight: World Junior Championship Recap

The 2025 World Junior Championship is over, and for the first time in the tournament's history, the United States won gold in back-to-back years.

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The US defeated Finland in overtime to earn their gold medal and Czechia's shootout win over Sweden won them the bronze.

The Anaheim Ducks had four prospects at the WJC: Carey Terrance (USA), Austin Burnevik (USA), Vojtech Port (Czechia), and Darels Uljanskis (Latvia).

Carey Terrance

Terrance won his second World Junior gold medal in 2025, this time in a much-increased role.

At the 2024 tournament, he made the final cut and earned his medal, but he didn't play in any of the United States' games.

"My time was great last year, just learning," Terrance said after winning his second gold medal. "To come into this team and have a bigger role, it means a ton and to get it done means even more."

In 2025, he played in all seven games for the United States, scored two goals, featured on the top penalty kill unit, and averaged roughly 13 minutes per game.

Terrance (along with teammate Oliver Moore and Canada's Jett Luchanko) was one of the three fastest players in the tournament when it came to pure foot speed. He leverages his skating to endlessly pester opponents on the forecheck and make himself as disruptive as possible.

He fought for every inch of position in every zone on the ice, supported pucks accordingly, protected pucks along the wall, and made sound, responsible decisions with the puck on his stick regularly. Unsurprisingly, his two goals came off the rush and following turnovers.

"It's unbelievable. To do it with a couple of the same guys again, it's an unbelievable feeling," Terrance said. "It's short. Time flies, but you cherish these moments and these are going to last a lifetime."

Terrance will return to captain the Erie Otters of the OHL, where his team sits in fourth place in the Western Conference and he's scored 14 goals and 26 points in 29 games.

Austin Burnevik

Burnevik was a surprise addition to the US team at this year's tournament, but earned his spot with his solid freshman season at St. Cloud State University and performance at the US team's selection camp.

"It's emotional to talk about," Burnevik's close friend Oliver Moore told NHL Network's Jon Morosi when asked about Burnevik not making the 2023 U18 World Championship roster. "He's seen the ups and downs of his career, the stuff he's had to go through. He believes in himself. I believe in him. He's an unbelievable guy."

He played a fourth-line role, mostly alongside Terrance until Terrance was promoted to the third line later in the tournament. He was held off the scoresheet in seven games despite his presence on the top power play unit alongside elite talents like Zeev Buium, Ryan Leonard, James Hagens, and Gabe Perreault.

He averaged nearly 12:45 TOI in the first five games of the tournament, but in the semi-final and gold medal game, his ice time dwindled to 9:59 and 3:28, respectively.

Burnevik is nowhere near the burner Terrance is, but calculates his touches well. He lives around the crease in the offensive zone, displaying intelligent movement off the puck and the capability to win wall battles routinely. His forecheck and defensive angling efforts were prominent, but he couldn't build plays at critical times that led to goals.

He will return to St. Cloud State to finish his freshman season, where he co-leads his team in scoring and has tallied nine goals and 16 points in 17 games.

Vojtech Port

Port represented Czechia for the first time at a significant IIHF tournament during the 2025 World Juniors.

He assumed a third-pairing role and saw some time on the team's top penalty kill unit. He notched four assists in seven games and averaged roughly 17 minutes per game.

All his points came in Czechia's first two games of the tournament when they matched up against their weakest competition, Switzerland and Kazakhstan. However, when the competition increased later in the tournament, his offensive involvement was still present, just not as often.

His offensive activity came as a bit of a surprise considering the defensive roles he's been thrust into at the WHL level during his junior career. He was explosive and shifty at the offensive blueline, activating and always keeping his feet moving after making passes. He often would carry pucks low into the offensive zone and find teammates through seams for dangerous looks.

He joined as many rushes as he could, displaying quality puck skills and confidence as he manipulated the first layer of pressure.

Defensively, he was a bit slow to pick up his assignment in coverage but made simple plays under duress and showed proficient gap and angling against the rush.

Port will return to Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL, where they sit in sixth place in the Eastern Conference and will push for a playoff spot. He has five points in 27 games this season.

Darels Uljanskis

Uljanskis played in his second World Junior Championship in a row and represented Latvia for the fourth time in an IIHF tournament.

Latvia was the early surprise of the tournament, defeating Canada in a shootout and Germany in overtime during the preliminary round before they were ousted by Sweden in the quarterfinal.

Uljanskis was one of just two NHL-drafted players on his Latvia team, where he featured on the second power play and penalty kill units. He notched one assist and averaged nearly 19 minutes per game.

He played a very meat and potatoes game, as did his entire team. They displayed a "bend, don't break" mentality, protecting the middle of the ice and getting pucks out of the defensive zone by any means necessary.

Uljanskis was composed in coverage and disruptive in lanes when opponents were looking to get shots or dangerous passes off. His gap was larger than fundamentals suggest, but it may have been by design as part of the Latvia team strategy.

If there's an area he needs to round out, it comes in the form of his outlet passes. They lacked significant zip and he was often too nonchalant when trying to connect with forwards up ice.

Uljanskis will return to AIK in Sweden's J20 Nationell league, where he's tallied five goals and 21 points in 27 games this season.

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