World Juniors begin on Wednesday as 4 prospects vie for roster spots

The 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship begins on Wednesday in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia.
Four Buffalo Sabres prospects are vying to make their respective teams as final cut downs approach: goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (second round, 2018) and defenseman Oskari Laaksonen (third round, 2017) for Team Finland, forward Matej Pekar (fourth round, 2018) for the Czech Republic, and defenseman Mattias Samuelsson (second round, 2018) for Team USA.
Finals rosters are expected to be announced early next week.

Finland has their final tune-up Sunday night against Canada. Luukkonen shouldered the load for Finland last year in Buffalo and he could do the same in British Columbia this winter. In his first OHL season, Luukkonen is 19-5-2 with a 2.49 goals-against average, a .923 save percentage and two shutouts.
Laaksonen has been a workhorse for his Finnish team, Ilves, and has 13 points (3+10) in 26 games. He could very well be on Finland's top pair going into the tournament. Their first game is Wednesday against rival Sweden in Victoria.
Defensemen Urho Vaakanainen (BOS) and Henri Jokiharju (CHI), and forward Eeli Tolvanen (NSH) are also expected to be on Finland's tournament roster. Another name to watch is right wing Kaapo Kakko, who will likely be a Top 5 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.
Speaking of top draft prospects, Team USA took on Russia in a pre-tournament game in Kamloops, winning 3-2 after training 2-0 heading into the third. Jack Hughes, widely considered to be the top pick in this summer's draft, scored the game winner with less than 30 seconds to play.

Samuelsson dressed on the third pair with Jack St. Ivany, a Flyers draft pick, but did not factor into the scoring. He has eight points so far in his freshman campaign at Western Michigan.
The U.S. will travel to Langley, B.C., to meet the Czech Republic in its final pre-tournament game at George Preston Recreation Centre tomorrow night at 10 p.m. ET.
Pekar is among many talented players in the Czech Republic camp, including first-round picks Filip Zadina (DET), Martin Necas (CAR) and Martin Kaut (COL). Last year, Necas tied for the lead tournament scoring with Team USA forward (and then-Sabres prospect) Casey Mittelstadt while Zadina was seventh. Behind the power of Necas and Zadina, the Czechs finished in fourth last year.
Pekar has 33 points (12+21) in 30 games for the Barrie Colts this season.
The full slate of tournament games can be found here. We'll have updates throughout the tournament for you here on Sabres.com.

Stats

| Skater | Position | Team (League) | GP | G | A | PTS | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Christopher Brown | F | Boston College (NCAA) | 14 | 2 | 3 | 5 | | Jacob Bryson | D | Providence (NCAA) | 16 | 3 | 11 | 14 | | Ivan Chukarov | D | Massachusetts (NCAA) | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | | Marcus Davidsson | F | Djuragardens (SHL) | 24 | 2 | 11 | 13 | | Casey Fitzgerald | D | Boston College (NCAA) | 14 | 0 | 6 | 6 | | Vasily Glotov | F | Cincinnati (ECHL) | 27 | 5 | 14 | 19 | | Miska Kukkonen | D | Tappara U20 (Mestis) | 28 | 2 | 6 | 8 | | Oskari Laaksonen | D | Ilves (Liiga) | 26 | 3 | 10 | 13 | | Linus Lindstrand Cronholm | D | IK Pantern (Allsvenskan) | 22 | 1 | 5 | 6 | | Brett Murray | F | Youngstown (USHL) | 24 | 13 | 14 | 27 | | Philip Nyberg | D | UConn (NCAA) | 17 | 0 | 2 | 2 | | Matej Pekar | F | Barrie (OHL) | 30 | 12 | 21 | 33 | | Mattias Samuelsson | D | Western Michigan (NCAA) | 16 | 3 | 5 | 8 | | Linus Weissbach | F | Wisconsin (NCAA) | 8 | 2 | 9 | 11 | | Maxwell Willman | F | Boston University (NCAA) | 15 | 0 | 3 | 3 | | William Worge Kreu | D | Linkoping J20 (SuperElit) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Goaltender | Team (League) | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | GAA | SV% | SO | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | Sudbury (OHL) | 26 | 19 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2.49 | .923 | 2 |