Ihs-Wozniak using Summer Showcase to round out complete game ahead of World Juniors

WINDSOR, Ontario -- Born in Australia. Plays for Sweden. Hopes to play for the Vegas Golden Knights someday.

Jakob Ihs-Wozniak might have the most intriguing bio at the World Junior Summer Showcase, a tournament featuring prospects from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States at WFCU Center this week.

“Australia’s a part of me,” said the 19-year-old forward, whom Vegas selected in the second round (No. 55) of the 2025 NHL Draft. “I think it’s a big part of me. Of course, I’m mostly a Swede now, but I still always want to have Australia there too.”

What’s the backstory? What does Ihs-Wozniak need to do to make Sweden’s roster for the 2027 IIHF World Junior Championship in Alberta and eventually the Golden Knights’ roster? If he makes the NHL, where would he fit in Australian hockey history?

St. Louis Blues forward Nathan Walker is considered the first Australian to play in the NHL, even though he was born in Cardiff, Wales. He moved to Sydney when he was 2 and began playing hockey there, then moved to the Czech Republic at 13 and the United States at 19 for hockey. He has represented Australia internationally.

Ottawa Senators defenseman Jordan Spence is the first Australia-born player in the NHL. He was born in Manly, a Sydney suburb. He moved to Japan at 1 ½ and began playing hockey there, then moved to Canada as a teenager partly for hockey. He has represented Canada internationally.

Ihs-Wozniak has a chance to become the second Australia-born player in the NHL. When he competes for Sweden internationally, he displays his dual Swedish-Australian identity on the back of his jersey with his hyphenated last name. 

His mother, Anna Ihs, is from Lulea, Sweden. While pursuing a graduate degree in engineering, she studied abroad on the other side of the world in Adelaide, Australia. A few weeks before going home, she met Adam Wozniak.

“You’re young,” she said. “You don’t really know what’s going to happen. But I went back to Sweden, and then I thought, ‘Maybe I should give it a try.’ So, I said, ‘OK, I’ll go back to Australia and see what happens.’ I went back to Australia. The university helped me to find a job over there, and so I started working. We moved in together, and then, yeah.”

Jakob was born in Adelaide. But Anna had made it clear from the beginning that she wanted to return to Sweden, and the family moved to Lulea when Jakob was almost 2. He began playing hockey there. His Australian grandparents would visit him in Sweden every year, and he would visit them in Australia almost every year until the COVID-19 pandemic.

He has never skated Down Under, although Australia has more than a century of hockey history, Adelaide has a semipro hockey team, and his mother took his father ice skating there before he was born.

“I think he feels very Swedish,” his mother said. “He does. Sweden is where he grew up. But, of course, Australia is a big part of his life as well, because his grandparents are there and he’s got a close relationship with them. … He keeps saying he would like to go back to visit.”

Ihs-Wozniak said he always had a good time there.

“The weather is awesome, of course,” he said. “Australia has cricket and the Australian football my dad grew up playing. I’d like to go back and see that -- and see it in another way now when I’ve gotten older.”

For now, the focus is on hockey.

Ihs-Wozniak is a 6-foot-3, 190-pound wing with speed, smarts and a good shot.

“He’s got a good one-timer, but his release on his wrist shot, I think, is even better,” Vegas director of player development Wil Nichol said.

He had 50 points (22 goals, 28 assists) in 36 games for Lulea’s team in Sweden’s junior league in 2023-24, a record for a U17 player, and 57 points (23 goals, 34 assists) in 40 games the following season. He also had seven points (five goals, two assists) in seven games at the 2025 U18 World Championship, helping Sweden win silver.

His mother said when Vegas drafted him, it made news in Adelaide.

Last season, Ihs-Wozniak had 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) in 36 games for Björklöven in Allsvenskan, Sweden’s second-highest pro league.

He has two points (one goal, one assist) through three games in this tournament, skating on the right wing at even strength and the left flank on the power play. In a 6-4 loss to a U.S. split-squad Monday, he scored after getting a step on defenseman Chase Reid, whom the Seattle Kraken selected No. 7 in the 2026 NHL Draft, and was named his team’s player of the game.

The biggest things he must work on are mindset, work ethic and play away from the puck. This tournament is an opportunity for Sweden’s coaches to evaluate him and for him to develop ahead of World Juniors.

“It’s good for us to see him in a small rink against those nations, more like north-south hockey,” Sweden coach Magnus Havelid said. “You have to skate. He’s a goal-scorer, but we know the World Junior is going to be more up and down, so every player needs to do that job, 5-on-5, that kind of game there.”

What would it mean to represent Sweden at World Juniors?

“That’s a dream that everyone has when they’re young,” Ihs-Wozniak said. “Everyone says it, of course, but it’s true. That’s one thing that you work for. You watch World Juniors when you’re young, and you strive to be there, so it would be a really big dream to play there.”

As for pro hockey this season, Ihs-Wozniak’s goal is to play full-time for Lulea of the Swedish Hockey League, his hometown team in his country’s top pro league, after appearing in 32 games for Lulea in the SHL over the past three seasons. He has gained strength in the weight room over the past year.

“Hopefully (he can) have a spot in the lineup in Lulea,” Havelid said. “It’s going to be tough, but I think he’s ready. He’s had a good off-ice period behind him, so now it’s up to him. … More battling, puck battling, stuff like that in a small area, protecting the puck. That’s what he needs to do, develop, and then the situation will come when he can score the goals.”

The Golden Knights always care most about their prospects playing significant roles, not necessarily where they play them. 

“I’ve always got the development hat on,” Nichol said. “It’s more opportunity, ice time. Last year, his development was much better when he got sent down and played for Björklöven than it was when he was up. It’s pro hockey over there. I understand that they need to win, but a lot of times the younger kids can get pushed to the bottom.

“So, if he’s got a great setup and a great role in Lulea this year, that’s great. That’s awesome. If not -- and he knows this, and he agrees -- then I think it won’t take very long before they (send him down) so he can play the right minutes, the right situations, and develop.”

Ihs-Wozniak knows he will need to develop a complete game to play in Vegas.

“I want to be offensive and play power play, but to play in the NHL, you need to have all the parts,” he said. “I think that’s what I’m working on the most right now. … I need to work on my intensity level and my physical play. I think I’m in the right direction for that, so just (I need to) keep working on that and, of course, (work on) getting a better shot and getting better at everything I’m good at too.”

It has been hard for Ihs-Wozniak to watch the Golden Knights due to the time difference, but he followed their run to the Stanley Cup Final last season from afar. He has been to Las Vegas for two development camps. Maybe he’ll make news in Adelaide again in the future.

“I always want to play on a winning team,” he said. “That’s why you play hockey. You want to win, so it’s perfect that I landed in Vegas.”