Three players with ties to the Tampa Bay Lightning have advanced to the quarterfinals at the 2026 IIHF Men’s World Championship.
Lightning defensemen JJ Moser and Declan Carlile will join forward prospect Noah Steen in Thursday's quarterfinal action. Moser is representing Switzerland at the tournament, while Carlile is donning a Team USA jersey and Steen is playing for Norway.
Moser helped Switzerland to a perfect 7-0 record during the preliminary round of the tournament. Switzerland paces all countries with 39 goals scored, while their seven goals allowed are the fewest of any team.
Moser has dished out four assists while posting a +11 rating. His 20:17 of time on ice per game is second-highest on the team behind only Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi (20:59).
Carlile and Team USA finished preliminary action with a 3-1-0-3 record, winning three games in regulation and one in overtime while taking three losses. Carlile has contributed a goal and two assists with a +2 rating in four games.
Steen’s name has been all over the scoresheet for Norway—the 21-year-old forward has scored five goals, tied for the second-most of any player at the tournament behind only Latvia’s Rudolfs Balcers (seven).
Steen has appeared in all seven of Norway’s games, helping the squad to a 4-1-1-1 record after the preliminary bracket. He was a seventh-round pick by the Lightning at the 2024 NHL Draft and signed his entry-level contract in March following a 22-point season of professional hockey in Sweden.
He played in five regular season games for the Syracuse Crunch, scoring his first career AHL goal on April 11 before dressing in two Calder Cup Playoff games.
Golicic caps another World Championship showing
Defenseman Jan Golicic played in all seven games for Slovenia during his second career World Championship appearance. Slovenia did not advance to the quarterfinal round but earned enough points to qualify for the 2027 World Championship.
Golicic, 19, finished with two assists and five shots on goal in seven games at the tournament, while his 19:03 in time on ice per game was third-highest for Slovenia.
The blueliner was a fourth-round selection by Tampa Bay at the 2024 NHL Draft and played his 2025-26 season split between the Gatineau Olympiques and Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in the QMJHL.
He finished with five goals and 44 points in 57 games of junior hockey before heading to the World Championship this spring.
The Quinnipiac University commit turns 20 next month and is set to play NCAA hockey this fall, which will extend his singing rights with the Lightning until June 2028.
Wrapping up the Worlds
All four quarterfinal games are scheduled for Thursday, a day that begins with Carlile and Team USA refreshing their North American rivalry against Canada at 10:20 a.m. ET.
Moser and Switzerland will face Sweden at 2:20 p.m., the same time that Steen and Norway will take on Latvia.
The four winning teams from Thursday will advance to the semifinals, set for Saturday. The two losing teams in the semifinal games will then play in the bronze medal game at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday before the winning teams compete for the gold medal at 2:20 p.m.
