2025 World Junior Summer Showcase: 3 issues discovered on Day 1

MINNEAPOLIS — It would not come as an excessive amount of of a shock if the highest line for the United States within the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship is a well-recognized one.

James Hagens, the playmaking ahead who was chosen No. 7 by the Boston Bruins within the 2025 NHL Draft, centered a line with left wing Teddy Stiga (Nashville Predators) and proper wing Brodie Ziemer (Buffalo Sabres) within the opener for USA White throughout the World Junior Summer Showcase at Ridder Arena on Sunday.

If the trio sounds acquainted, it ought to. The Stiga-Hagens-Ziemer line wreaked havoc on the opposition for USA Hockey National Team Development Program Under-18 staff in 2023-24.

“It’d be nice playing with those guys but you’re not the coach and you don’t know what lines are going to be put together,” Hagens stated. “What I liked about the line (with the NTDP) was there were no egos, just being able to go out there and play freely. We’re best buddies off the ice, so being able to have that connection where you could talk to a guy, could say something, it’s just awesome. That’s a huge part of hockey, and if you’re communicating with your linemates, it just makes it that much easier.”

They had been as much as their previous tips in a scrimmage towards Finland, combining for 5 factors, together with two objectives by Stiga, in a 5-2 victory.

“Obviously, playing with [Hagens and Ziemer] at NTDP was great and getting back out there with them today was really fun,” Stiga stated. “Obviously, I play with James at Boston College, but Brodie is a guy I miss playing with. He’s just a dog out there, always going to give it his best.”

Here are three issues discovered Sunday: