Winnipeg Jets 4 Finalists for 2025 World Junior Championship – Hockey Writers – World Junior Hockey Championship

The Winnipeg Jets may be well represented at the 2025 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship (WJC) in Ottawa this holiday season.

Here, we'll take a look at the four candidates who will represent their countries in the exciting and high-profile hockey event that starts on Boxing Day and runs until Jan. 5.

Colby Barlow – Canada

Barlow got off to a slow start after being dealt to the Oshawa Generals as part of a major trade between the Generals and the Owen Sound Attack, but he's still a strong candidate to finish off the Canadian roster.

Related: Predicting Canada's 2025 World Junior Championship Squad

The Jets' 2023 first-round pick should have a chip on his shoulder to do so. Late last year, he suffered a back injury that ruined his chance to play for Canada at the 2024 WJC in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Barlow, now 19 years old and a native of Orillia, Ontario, has seven goals and three assists for 10 points in 19 games after going scoreless in his first six. Before being traded to the Generals, he captained the Attack for two seasons, posting 79 and 58 points respectively, and scoring 40 goals in each campaign. He is known for having a bad shot and his physical play.

Barlow is equally – if not more – known for his maturity and discipline, two factors that could serve as a stabilizing force in Canada and give him a leg up on his rivals, even if they have better statistics. Canada will go into the 2025 tournament needing to bounce back from a poor performance in 2024 where they were beaten by the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals and did not look as a team at all.

Barlow has been invited to participate in Canada's Summer World Junior Showcase in late July and early August, which means the team bronze is on his way.

Alfons Freij – Sweden

Freij, a smooth-skating defenseman and 2024 second-round pick of the Jets, is in his first year of WJC eligibility as an 18-year-old. Despite that. he should have a shot at making a Swedish club that lost to the United States in the gold medal game last year and hasn't won gold since 2012.

Freij, who currently plays for IF Björklöven in the second division of Sweden's HockeyAllsvenskan league, is known for having incredibly developed skills, speed, and puck movement skills for such a young player. He has a solid offensive hand — something even defensemen need to have at least in a tournament as high-scoring in history as the WJC — and has been described as a “powerful creator.” He put up 33 points (14 goals, 19 assists) in 40 games last season for the Växjö Lakers J20 team in the Swedish Hockey League.

Related: Winnipeg Jets 2024 NHL Draft Recap

Freij previously represented Sweden at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and the 2024 U18 WJC. He also has decent size at 6-foot-1, 196 pounds and is currently getting experience playing in the unlimited professional league for years at Björklöven, where he has one goal and three assists in 16 games and a plus-2 average.

Markus Loponen – Finland

Loponen, a center from Oulu, is not a lock by any means to make the Finnish team in his first year of eligibility, but he is in the discussion.

The 2024 fifth-round pick of the Jets, who plays for the Western Hockey League's (WHL) Victoria Royals, is in his first season of North American hockey. That may be a mistake for him considering that the competition is in Canada this year and not in Europe, which has big snow areas that he is used to.

Loponen, who before this season played for the U18 and U20 Oulun Karpat clubs in his hometown, has six goals and six assists for 12 points in 20 games for the Royals.

At just 18 years old, he may be the toughest contender for Finland's 2026 WJC team, as he will have the opportunity to grow and get a full season of North American hockey under his belt. He already has leadership experience, captaining Karpat's under-20 team last season and putting up 25 goals and 29 assists for 54 points in 49 games.

He previously represented Finland in the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

Brayden Yager – Canada

We opened with a player who wants to play for Canada in Barlow, and we will close one set to return to the team that played a big role in Brayden Yager.

Yager, whom the Jets acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in August in exchange for the disaffected Rutger McGroarty, played in last year's championship, scoring two goals and three assists for five points in five games. He could be the team's first- or second-line center this time around and will lend his dangerous release, veteran presence, and leadership to Canada's quest to return to the medal table.

The Penguins' 2023 first-round pick and Saskatoon product is in his fifth season with the WHL's Moose Jaw Warriors and was named captain in October. The 19-year-old, who will turn 20 on January 3, sits second on the team with 10 goals and 14 assists for 24 points in 17 games.

Be sure to stay tuned Hockey Writers for detailed information on all the leading WJC teams before and during the tournament.