While the St. Louis Blues are back to playing hockey after the holiday break--including a win over the Nashville Predators that actually has them back in the wildcard conversation--the World Junior Championships are happening now, too. It's a lean year for the Blues, with only two prospects participating in the tournament this year, but they've both had strong impacts early in the tournament.
Blues goaltending prospect Love Harenstam, one of the netminders for Team Sweden, had a solid showing against Team Slovakia, allowing only two goals and finishing with a .920 save percentage. Not too shabby! Harenstam deserves some flowers for his good work so far. However, we're here to talk about the other Blues prospect who's been outstanding: Adam Jiricek.
Jiricek didn't get on the scoreboard in Team Czechia's 7-5 loss to Team Canada on Day One of the round robin, but he was everywhere, blocking shots, making plays, and generally being the kind of defenseman living up to the hype of being a 1st-round draft pick (16th overall in 2024). After the loss to Canada, Jiricek was a menace in the following match against Team Denmark, posting a goal and an assist in the game; Czechia went on to win that game 7-2.
Through two games at the World Juniors, Jiricek is leading Czechia in ice time with an average of 24:05 per game, and is second on the team in shots on goal with 12. On top of his counting stats, he's a part of Czechia's leadership group, wearing an "A" on his sweater. So far, so good for one of the Blues' most important prospects on one of the better defense groups in the tournament.